Which to use
“blague” and “blaise” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,902
- “blague” frequency rank
- #10,280
- “blaise” frequency rank
- 12182
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | blague | blaise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit sachet taillé dans une grosse toile, une vessie, une poche de pélican ou une peau dans lequel les fumeurs mettent le tabac dont ils font usage. | Soie qui entoure le cocon et que l'on enlève avant de dévider ce dernier. |
Where the eye mixes blague and blaise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. blague (CCVCVV) and blaise (CCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses blague with blaise
A purely visual mix-up. blague (\blaɡ\) and blaise (\blɛz\) 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 12182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
blague is recorded at frequency rank #1,902, classified as anoun, pronounced \blaɡ\. blaise is at rank #10,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced \blɛz\.
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 12182, this pair ranks #406,265 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of blague vs blaise
Shared letters: abel. Private to "blague": gu. Private to "blaise": is.
"blague" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV · "blaise" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "blague" for "blaise" ever safe?
Frequency check: "blague" vs "blaise" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "blague" and "blaise" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "blague" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blaise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,265 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "blague" and "blaise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baisez vs blaise". 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 #406,265 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.