Which to use
“barrer” and “bourrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,523
- “barrer” frequency rank
- #25,914
- “bourrer” frequency rank
- 38437
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | barrer | bourrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fermer avec une barre. | Garnir de bourre. |
Where the eye mixes barrer and bourrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses barrer with bourrer
A purely visual mix-up. barrer (\ba.ʁe\) and bourrer (\bu.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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38437, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
barrer is recorded at frequency rank #12,523, classified as averb, pronounced \ba.ʁe\. bourrer is at rank #25,914, tagged as averb, pronounced \bu.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 38437, this pair ranks #255,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of barrer vs bourrer
Shared letters: ber. Private to "barrer": a. Private to "bourrer": ou.
"barrer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "bourrer" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "barrer" for "bourrer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "barrer" vs "bourrer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "barrer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bourrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,271 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "barrer" and "bourrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bourdes vs bourrer". 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 #255,271 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.