progvsproofConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,751
“prog” frequency rank
#43,613
“proof” frequency rank
74364
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prog proof
Definition Programmation. Preuve (définitive).

Where the eye mixes prog and proof

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

4 ch
prog
5 ch
proof

Visual trap between prog and proof

A purely visual mix-up. prog (\pʁɔɡ\) and proof (\ˈpɹuːf\) 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 74364, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prog is recorded at frequency rank #30,751, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔɡ\. proof is at rank #43,613, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈpɹuːf\.

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 74364, this pair ranks #37,390 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of prog vs proof

Shared letters: opr. Private to "prog": g. Private to "proof": f.

"prog" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "proof" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • progporg · pprog · prgo · progg · prrog · rpog
  • proofporof · pproof · profo · prooff · prroof · rpoof

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "prog" for "proof" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔɡ\ versus \ˈpɹuːf\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "prog" vs "proof" - which ranks higher?
"prog" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,751 in our French list, against #43,613 for "proof". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "prog" and "proof" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prog" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proof" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #37,390 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prog" and "proof" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proof vs proud". 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 #37,390 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