Which to use
“tool” and “toux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,535
- “tool” frequency rank
- #15,276
- “toux” frequency rank
- 55811
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tool | toux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Outil. | Expiration spasmodique et bruyante de l’air, accompagnée d’un mouvement convulsif du larynx et de la trachée-artère. |
Where the eye mixes tool and toux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: tool vs toux
A purely visual mix-up. tool (\tuːl\) and toux (\tu\) 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 55811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tool is recorded at frequency rank #40,535, classified as anoun, pronounced \tuːl\. toux is at rank #15,276, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tu\.
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 55811, this pair ranks #125,085 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tool vs toux
Shared letters: ot. Private to "tool": l. Private to "toux": ux.
"tool" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "toux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "tool" and "toux" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "tool" vs "toux" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "tool" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "toux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,085 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tool" and "toux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "todo vs tool". 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 #125,085 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.