Which to use
“caféine” and “codéine” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,878
- “caféine” frequency rank
- #44,377
- “codéine” frequency rank
- 66255
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caféine | codéine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Composé chimique dérivé triméthylé de la xanthine et principe actif du café aux effets stimulants sur le système nerveux central. | Alcaloïde que l’on tire de l’opium. Cette molécule est utilisée en pharmacie pour sa propriété antitussive. |
Where the eye mixes caféine and codéine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses caféine with codéine
A purely visual mix-up. caféine (\ka.fe.in\) and codéine (\kɔ.de.in\) 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 66255, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caféine is recorded at frequency rank #21,878, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.fe.in\. codéine is at rank #44,377, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.de.in\.
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 66255, this pair ranks #68,601 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of caféine vs codéine
Shared letters: ceiné. Private to "caféine": af. Private to "codéine": do.
"caféine" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "codéine" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "caféine" for "codéine" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "caféine" or "codéine" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "caféine" and "codéine" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "caféine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "codéine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,601 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caféine" and "codéine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cocaine vs codéine". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #68,601 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.