Which to use
“rough” is a noun and “roux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #38,518
- “rough” frequency rank
- #5,076
- “roux” frequency rank
- 43594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rough | roux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bordure non entretenue d’un terrain de golf. | D’une couleur proche de l’orange, souvent en parlant des cheveux. #AD4F09 |
Where the eye mixes rough and roux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses rough with roux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rough is \ʁœf\ while roux is \ʁu\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rough is recorded at frequency rank #38,518, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁœf\. roux is at rank #5,076, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁu\.
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 43594, this pair ranks #216,877 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of rough vs roux
Shared letters: oru. Private to "rough": gh. Private to "roux": x.
"rough" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "roux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "rough" and "roux" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "rough" vs "roux" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rough" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "roux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,877 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rough" and "roux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rog vs rough". 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 #216,877 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.