prixvsproxyWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“prix” and “proxy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#215
“prix” frequency rank
#30,753
“proxy” frequency rank
30968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prix proxy
Definition Estimation d’une chose, ce qu’elle se vend, ce qu’on l’achète, ce qu’on la paie. Serveur informatique qui a pour fonction de relayer des requêtes entre un poste client et un serveur, utilisé pour assurer les fonctions de mémoire cache, de journalisation des requêtes (« logging »), assurer la sécurité du réseau local, le filtrage et l’anonymat.

Where the eye mixes prix and proxy

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
prix
5 ch
proxy

Visual trap between prix and proxy

A purely visual mix-up. prix (\pʁi\) and proxy (\pʁɔk.si\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prix is recorded at frequency rank #215, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁi\. proxy is at rank #30,753, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔk.si\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30968, this pair ranks #306,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prix vs proxy

Shared letters: prx. Private to "prix": i. Private to "proxy": oy.

"prix" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "proxy" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prixpirx · pprix · prixx · prrix · prxi · rpix
  • proxyporxy · pproxy · proxxy · proxyy · proyx · prroxy · prxoy · rpoxy

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prix" and "proxy" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁi\ versus \pʁɔk.si\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "prix" or "proxy" show up more?
"prix" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #215 in our French list, against #30,753 for "proxy". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prix" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proxy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #306,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prix" and "proxy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proud vs proxy". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #306,852 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list