Which to use
“bâtard” is an adjective and “boyard” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,284
- “bâtard” frequency rank
- #34,905
- “boyard” frequency rank
- 45189
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bâtard | boyard |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est né de parents non mariés ensemble. | Nom qu’on donnait aux seigneurs en Russie ou en Transylvanie. |
Where the eye mixes bâtard and boyard
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. bâtard (CVCVCC) and boyard (CVVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: bâtard vs boyard
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bâtard is \bɑ.taʁ\ while boyard is \bɔ.jaʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45189, 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\. boyard is at rank #34,905, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɔ.jaʁ\.
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 45189, this pair ranks #204,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bâtard vs boyard
Shared letters: abdr. Private to "bâtard": tâ. Private to "boyard": oy.
"bâtard" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "boyard" · 6 letters · shape CVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- boyard ← bboyard · boayrd · boyadr · boyardd · boyarrd · boyrad · boyyard · byoard
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bâtard" for "boyard" ever safe?
Which is more common, "bâtard" or "boyard"?
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 "boyard" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #204,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bâtard" and "boyard" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "boulard vs boyard". 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 #204,688 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.