Which to use
“barber” and “barrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,678
- “barber” frequency rank
- #12,523
- “barrer” frequency rank
- 50201
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | barber | barrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ennuyer quelqu'un. | Fermer avec une barre. |
Where the eye mixes barber and barrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between barber and barrer
A purely visual mix-up. barber (\baʁ.be\) and barrer (\ba.ʁe\) 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 a single letter - b in “barber” becomes r in “barrer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50201, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
barber is recorded at frequency rank #37,678, classified as averb, pronounced \baʁ.be\. barrer is at rank #12,523, tagged as averb, pronounced \ba.ʁe\.
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 50201, this pair ranks #164,502 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of barber vs barrer
Shared letters: aber. Private to "barber": -. Private to "barrer": -.
"barber" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "barrer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "barber" and "barrer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "barber" vs "barrer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "barber" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "barrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #164,502 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "barber" and "barrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "badger vs barber". 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 #164,502 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.