Which to use
“calque” and “clique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,328
- “calque” frequency rank
- #9,969
- “clique” frequency rank
- 42297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | calque | clique |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Reproduction obtenue en calquant. | Coterie, bande de gens qui veulent parvenir à quelque chose d’une manière peu honnête. |
Where the eye mixes calque and clique
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between calque and clique
A purely visual mix-up. calque (\kalk\) and clique (\klik\) 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 42297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
calque is recorded at frequency rank #32,328, classified as anoun, pronounced \kalk\. clique is at rank #9,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klik\.
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 42297, this pair ranks #226,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of calque vs clique
Shared letters: celqu. Private to "calque": a. Private to "clique": i.
"calque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "clique" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "calque" and "clique" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "calque" vs "clique" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "calque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "calque" and "clique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "calée vs calque". 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 #226,683 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.