Which to use
“câble” and “crible” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,849
- “câble” frequency rank
- #27,390
- “crible” frequency rank
- 32239
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | câble | crible |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Gros cordage formé de l’assemblage de plusieurs torons de chanvre, d’aloès, d’acier, etc. | Instrument percé d’un grand nombre de trous qui sert à trier des objets de grosseur ou de qualité inégales, en laissant passer les uns et en repoussant les autres. |
Where the eye mixes câble and crible
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses câble with crible
A purely visual mix-up. câble (\kabl\) and crible (\kʁibl\) 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 32239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
câble is recorded at frequency rank #4,849, classified as anoun, pronounced \kabl\. crible is at rank #27,390, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁibl\.
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 32239, this pair ranks #298,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of câble vs crible
Shared letters: bcel. Private to "câble": â. Private to "crible": ir.
"câble" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "crible" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- crible ← ccrible · cirble · crbile · cribble · cribel · criblle · crilbe · crrible
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "câble" for "crible" ever safe?
Frequency check: "câble" vs "crible" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "câble" and "crible" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "câble" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crible" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "câble" and "crible" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crible vs crisse". 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 #298,583 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.