Which to use
“bâtard” and “bavards” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,284
- “bâtard” frequency rank
- #44,327
- “bavards” frequency rank
- 54611
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bâtard | bavards |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est né de parents non mariés ensemble. | Masculin pluriel de bavard. |
Where the eye mixes bâtard and bavards
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bâtard runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against bavards's 7 (CVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: bâtard vs bavards
A purely visual mix-up. bâtard (\bɑ.taʁ\) and bavards (\ba.vaʁ\) 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 54611, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bâtard is recorded at frequency rank #10,284, classified as anadj, pronounced \bɑ.taʁ\. bavards is at rank #44,327, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ba.vaʁ\.
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 54611, this pair ranks #132,859 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bâtard vs bavards
Shared letters: abdr. Private to "bâtard": tâ. Private to "bavards": sv.
"bâtard" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "bavards" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- bavards ← abvards · baavrds · bavadrs · bavardds · bavardss · bavarrds · bavarsd · bavrads
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "bâtard" and "bavards" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "bâtard" or "bavards"?
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 "bâtard" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bavards" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #132,859 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bâtard" and "bavards" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bâtarde vs bavards". 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 #132,859 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.