Which to use
“caractère” is a noun and “caractérise” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,320
- “caractère” frequency rank
- #7,666
- “caractérise” frequency rank
- 8986
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | caractère | caractérise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Empreinte, marque, figure tracée sur une surface quelconque avec une plume, un burin, un ciseau ou de toute autre manière, et à laquelle on attribue une signification. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe caractériser. |
Where the eye mixes caractère and caractérise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. caractère runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against caractérise's 11 (CVCVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between caractère and caractérise
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caractère is \ka.ʁak.tɛʁ\ while caractérise is \ka.ʁak.te.ʁiz\. 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 8986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
caractère is recorded at frequency rank #1,320, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.ʁak.tɛʁ\. caractérise is at rank #7,666, tagged as averb, pronounced \ka.ʁak.te.ʁiz\.
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 8986, this pair ranks #418,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of caractère vs caractérise
Shared letters: acert. Private to "caractère": è. Private to "caractérise": isé.
"caractère" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "caractérise" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "caractère" and "caractérise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "caractère" vs "caractérise" - which ranks higher?
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 "caractère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "caractérise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,188 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "caractère" and "caractérise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caractérise vs caractérisées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #418,188 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.