cabalevscarafeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cabale” and “carafe” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#30,505
“cabale” frequency rank
#35,851
“carafe” frequency rank
66356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cabale carafe
Definition Tradition parmi les juifs substituant un sens mystique et allégorique au sens propre de l’Ancien Testament. Sorte de bouteille de verre ou de cristal, avec ou sans bouchon, plus large par le bas que par le haut, qui sert principalement à contenir l’eau et quelquefois le vin ou les liqueurs que l’on sert à table.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cabale and carafe apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
cabale
6 ch
carafe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cabale (\ka.bal\) and carafe (\ka.ʁaf\) 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 66356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cabale is recorded at frequency rank #30,505, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.bal\. carafe is at rank #35,851, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁaf\.

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 66356, this pair ranks #68,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cabale vs carafe

Shared letters: ace. Private to "cabale": bl. Private to "carafe": fr.

"cabale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "carafe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cabaleacbale · caable · cabael · caballe · cabbale · cablae · cbaale · ccabale
  • carafeacrafe · caarfe · caraef · caraffe · carfae · carrafe · ccarafe · craafe

Frequency comparison

cabale#30,505
carafe#35,851

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cabale" and "carafe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ka.bal\ versus \ka.ʁaf\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cabale" or "carafe"?
"cabale" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,505 in our French list, against #35,851 for "carafe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cabale vs carafe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cabale” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list