Which to use
“spatule” and “statue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,544
- “spatule” frequency rank
- #4,718
- “statue” frequency rank
- 46262
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spatule | statue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Baguette de bois, de métal, d’ivoire, etc., élargie et aplatie à un bout, dont on se sert en pharmacie et en chimie. | Figure en pied, de plein relief, représentant une divinité, un personnage humain, une allégorie, un animal. |
Where the eye mixes spatule and statue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. spatule runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against statue's 6 (CCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between spatule and statue
A purely visual mix-up. spatule (\spa.tyl\) and statue (\sta.ty\) 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 46262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spatule is recorded at frequency rank #41,544, classified as anoun, pronounced \spa.tyl\. statue is at rank #4,718, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sta.ty\.
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 46262, this pair ranks #196,309 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spatule vs statue
Shared letters: aestu. Private to "spatule": lp. Private to "statue": -.
"spatule" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "statue" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "spatule" for "statue" ever safe?
Which is more common, "spatule" or "statue"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "spatule" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "statue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,309 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spatule" and "statue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "saoulé vs spatule". 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 #196,309 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.