Which to use
“chanvre” is a noun and “chauve” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,388
- “chanvre” frequency rank
- #8,355
- “chauve” frequency rank
- 28743
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chanvre | chauve |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plante herbacée, dioïque, dont les fibres de la tige sont utilisés dans la conception textile et dont les inflorescences ont des propriétés psychoactives. | Qui n’a plus de cheveux, ou n’en a guère. |
Where the eye mixes chanvre and chauve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. chanvre runs 7 letters (CCVCCCV) against chauve's 6 (CCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: chanvre vs chauve
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: chanvre is \ʃɑ̃vʁ\ while chauve is \ʃov\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28743, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chanvre is recorded at frequency rank #20,388, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɑ̃vʁ\. chauve is at rank #8,355, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʃov\.
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 28743, this pair ranks #320,971 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chanvre vs chauve
Shared letters: acehv. Private to "chanvre": nr. Private to "chauve": u.
"chanvre" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV · "chauve" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chanvre" for "chauve" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chanvre" vs "chauve" - 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 "chanvre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chauve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,971 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chanvre" and "chauve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chantres vs chanvre". 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 #320,971 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.