Which to use
“calée” is an adjective and “clé” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,384
- “calée” frequency rank
- #1,987
- “clé” frequency rank
- 50371
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calée | clé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de calé. | Instrument de métal que l’on introduit dans une serrure pour ouvrir ou fermer un accès. Ancienne clé à panneton que l'on place et fait tourner dans la serrure d'une porte, d'un coffre, etc. |
Where the eye mixes calée and clé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses calée with clé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: calée is \ka.le\ while clé is \kle\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50371, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calée is recorded at frequency rank #48,384, classified as anadj, pronounced \ka.le\. clé is at rank #1,987, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kle\.
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 50371, this pair ranks #163,150 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of calée vs clé
Shared letters: clé. Private to "calée": ae. Private to "clé": -.
"calée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "clé" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "calée" and "clé" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "calée" vs "clé" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "calée" and "clé" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "calée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #163,150 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calée" and "clé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cakes vs calée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #163,150 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.