Which to use
“circle” and “cirque” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,720
- “circle” frequency rank
- #30,366
- “cirque” frequency rank
- 33086
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | circle | cirque |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A two-dimensional geometric figure, a line, consisting of the set of all those points in a plane that are equally distant from a given point (center). | A Roman circus. |
Where the eye mixes circle and cirque
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between circle and cirque
A purely visual mix-up. circle (/ˈsɜɹkəl/) and cirque (/sɜːk/) 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 33086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
circle is recorded at frequency rank #2,720, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɜɹkəl/. cirque is at rank #30,366, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɜːk/.
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 33086, this pair ranks #332,368 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of circle vs cirque
Shared letters: ceir. Private to "circle": l. Private to "cirque": qu.
"circle" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "cirque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "circle" for "cirque" ever safe?
Frequency check: "circle" vs "cirque" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "circle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cirque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #332,368 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "circle" and "cirque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cinque vs cirque". 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 #332,368 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.