Which to use
“cabale” and “cible” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,505
- “cabale” frequency rank
- #2,511
- “cible” frequency rank
- 33016
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cabale | cible |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tradition parmi les juifs substituant un sens mystique et allégorique au sens propre de l’Ancien Testament. | Sorte de planche servant de but pour le tir à l’arc ou avec des armes à feu. |
Where the eye mixes cabale and cible
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cabale with cible
A purely visual mix-up. cabale (\ka.bal\) and cible (\sibl\) 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 33016, 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\. cible is at rank #2,511, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sibl\.
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 33016, this pair ranks #293,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cabale vs cible
Shared letters: bcel. Private to "cabale": a. Private to "cible": i.
"cabale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "cible" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cabale" for "cible" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cabale" vs "cible" - which ranks higher?
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 "cabale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cible" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #293,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cabale" and "cible" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cabale vs Carle". 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 #293,431 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.