Which to use
“buffet” and “buffles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,356
- “buffet” frequency rank
- #48,955
- “buffles” frequency rank
- 60311
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | buffet | buffles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Meuble massif composé de tiroirs, placards et étagères, qui sert à entreposer l’argenterie, la vaisselle ou le linge de table. | Pluriel de buffle. |
Where the eye mixes buffet and buffles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses buffet with buffles
A purely visual mix-up. buffet (\by.fɛ\) and buffles (\byfl\) 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 60311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
buffet is recorded at frequency rank #11,356, classified as anoun, pronounced \by.fɛ\. buffles is at rank #48,955, tagged as anoun, pronounced \byfl\.
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 60311, this pair ranks #98,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of buffet vs buffles
Shared letters: befu. Private to "buffet": t. Private to "buffles": ls.
"buffet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "buffles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "buffet" and "buffles" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "buffet" vs "buffles" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "buffet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "buffles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "buffet" and "buffles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bouffées vs buffles". 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 #98,275 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.