Which to use
“toby” and “tom” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,711
- “toby” frequency rank
- #2,600
- “tom” frequency rank
- 26311
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | toby | tom |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poisson des récifs coralliens. | Abréviation courante de tom-tom (instrument de percussion). |
Where the eye mixes toby and tom
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses toby with tom
A purely visual mix-up. toby (\tɔ.bi\) and tom (\tɔm\) 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 26311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
toby is recorded at frequency rank #23,711, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɔ.bi\. tom is at rank #2,600, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔm\.
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 26311, this pair ranks #335,819 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of toby vs tom
Shared letters: ot. Private to "toby": by. Private to "tom": m.
"toby" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "tom" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- toby ← otby · tboy · tobby · tobyy · toyb · ttoby
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "toby" for "tom" ever safe?
Which is more common, "toby" or "tom"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "toby" and "tom" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "toby" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tom" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #335,819 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "toby" and "tom" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "toby vs todo". 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 #335,819 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.