spatulevsstatureWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,544
“spatule” frequency rank
#22,423
“stature” frequency rank
63967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spatule stature
Definition Baguette de bois, de métal, d’ivoire, etc., élargie et aplatie à un bout, dont on se sert en pharmacie et en chimie. Hauteur du corps d’une personne ou d’un animal (dressé sur ses pattes postérieures).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set spatule and stature apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
spatule
7 ch
stature

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. spatule (\spa.tyl\) and stature (\sta.tyʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63967, 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\. stature is at rank #22,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sta.tyʁ\.

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 63967, this pair ranks #79,327 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of spatule vs stature

Shared letters: aestu. Private to "spatule": lp. Private to "stature": r.

"spatule" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "stature" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • spatulepsatule · saptule · spatlue · spattule · spatuel · spatulle · spautle · sppatule
  • staturesatture · sstature · statrue · statture · staturre · stautre · sttature · sttaure

Frequency comparison

spatule#41,544
stature#22,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spatule" and "stature" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\spa.tyl\ versus \sta.tyʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "spatule" or "stature"?
"stature" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,423 in our French list, against #41,544 for "spatule". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering spatule vs stature

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “spatule” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list