Which to use
“tapis” and “topic” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,026
- “tapis” frequency rank
- #18,609
- “topic” frequency rank
- 22635
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tapis | topic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pièce d’étoffe, tissu de laine, de soie, etc., dont on couvre une table, une estrade, le parquet d’une chambre, etc. | Fil de discussion sur un forum internet ; suite de messages consécutifs autour d'un sujet donné regroupés grâce à une interface qui en facilite la lecture. |
Where the eye mixes tapis and topic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses tapis with topic
A purely visual mix-up. tapis (\ta.pi\) and topic (\tɔ.pik\) 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 22635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tapis is recorded at frequency rank #4,026, classified as anoun, pronounced \ta.pi\. topic is at rank #18,609, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔ.pik\.
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 22635, this pair ranks #356,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of tapis vs topic
Shared letters: ipt. Private to "tapis": as. Private to "topic": co.
"tapis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "topic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tapis" for "topic" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tapis" or "topic"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "tapis" and "topic" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tapis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "topic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #356,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tapis" and "topic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "topic vs toxic". 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 #356,917 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.