Which to use
“spy” and “STL” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,565
- “spy” frequency rank
- #48,211
- “STL” frequency rank
- 85776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spy | STL |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espion. | Une des huit séries du baccalauréat technologique, couvrant deux années de préparation avant le baccalauréat. |
Where the eye mixes spy and STL
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. spy (CCV) and STL (CCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between spy and STL
A purely visual mix-up. spy (\spaɪ\) and STL (\ɛs.te.ɛl\) 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 85776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spy is recorded at frequency rank #37,565, classified as anoun, pronounced \spaɪ\. STL is at rank #48,211, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.te.ɛl\.
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 85776, this pair ranks #10,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of spy vs STL
Shared letters: s. Private to "spy": py. Private to "STL": lt.
"spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "STL" · 3 letters · shape CCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "spy" and "STL" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "spy" or "STL" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "spy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "STL" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #10,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spy" and "STL" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "STL vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #10,770 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.