asthmevsastuceTell them apart

Which to use

“asthme” and “astuce” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,299
“asthme” frequency rank
#9,269
“astuce” frequency rank
25568
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature asthme astuce
Definition Inflammation chronique et évolutive des bronches, entraînant une bronchoconstriction et une gêne respiratoire à l'expiration. Finesse, ruse qui a pour objet de nuire.

Where the eye mixes asthme and astuce

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. asthme (VCCCCV) and astuce (VCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
asthme
6 ch
astuce

Visual trap between asthme and astuce

A purely visual mix-up. asthme (\asm\) and astuce (\as.tys\) 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 25568, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

asthme is recorded at frequency rank #16,299, classified as anoun, pronounced \asm\. astuce is at rank #9,269, tagged as anoun, pronounced \as.tys\.

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 25568, this pair ranks #340,119 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of asthme vs astuce

Shared letters: aest. Private to "asthme": hm. Private to "astuce": cu.

"asthme" · 6 letters · shape VCCCCV  ·  "astuce" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • asthme ← ashtme · assthme · asthem · asthhme · asthmme · astmhe · astthme · atshme
  • astuce ← asstuce · astcue · asttuce · astucce · astuec · asutce · atsuce · satuce

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "asthme" and "astuce" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\asm\ versus \as.tys\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "asthme" vs "astuce" - which ranks higher?
"astuce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,269 in our French list, against #16,299 for "asthme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "asthme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "astuce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #340,119 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "asthme" and "astuce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "asthme vs athée". 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 #340,119 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list