Which to use
“cachet” is a noun and “crachent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,128
- “cachet” frequency rank
- #30,117
- “crachent” frequency rank
- 43245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cachet | crachent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit objet gravé avec lequel on marque une empreinte, par exemple pour fermer une lettre, ou pour laisser une marque distinctive qui garantit l’authenticité du document, ou pour donner un renseignement, etc. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de cracher. |
Where the eye mixes cachet and crachent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. cachet runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against crachent's 8 (CCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses cachet with crachent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cachet is \ka.ʃɛ\ while crachent is \kʁaʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43245, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cachet is recorded at frequency rank #13,128, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʃɛ\. crachent is at rank #30,117, tagged as averb, pronounced \kʁaʃ\.
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 43245, this pair ranks #219,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cachet vs crachent
Shared letters: aceht. Private to "cachet": -. Private to "crachent": nr.
"cachet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "crachent" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cachet" for "crachent" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "cachet" or "crachent" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cachet" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "crachent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #219,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cachet" and "crachent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "crachant vs crachent". 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 #219,575 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.