Which to use
“tondu” and “tonic” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,187
- “tondu” frequency rank
- #45,350
- “tonic” frequency rank
- 88537
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tondu | tonic |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Que l’on a tondu. | Tonique, qualifie la première note d’un ton. |
Where the eye mixes tondu and tonic
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tondu (CVCCV) and tonic (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: tondu vs tonic
A purely visual mix-up. tondu (\tɔ̃.dy\) and tonic (\tuˈnik\) 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 88537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tondu is recorded at frequency rank #43,187, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɔ̃.dy\. tonic is at rank #45,350, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tuˈnik\.
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 88537, this pair ranks #6,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of tondu vs tonic
Shared letters: not. Private to "tondu": du. Private to "tonic": ci.
"tondu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "tonic" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tondu" for "tonic" ever safe?
Frequency check: "tondu" vs "tonic" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "tondu" and "tonic" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "tondu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tonic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #6,862 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tondu" and "tonic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "todo vs tondu". 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 #6,862 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.