charitévscharmeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“charité” and “charme” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#6,379
“charité” frequency rank
#3,444
“charme” frequency rank
9823
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature charité charme
Definition Vertu théologale, amour que l’on ressent pour Dieu, pour le bien et pour son prochain. Qualités aimables, attraits, séduction ou ascendant qu’exercent sur l’imagination les objets qui la frappent vivement et qui produisent sur elle l’admiration, l’enthousiasme.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set charité and charme apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
charité
6 ch
charme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. charité (\ʃa.ʁi.te\) and charme (\ʃaʁm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9823, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

charité is recorded at frequency rank #6,379, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃa.ʁi.te\. charme is at rank #3,444, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃaʁm\.

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 9823, this pair ranks #415,268 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of charité vs charme

Shared letters: achr. Private to "charité": ité. Private to "charme": em.

"charité" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "charme" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • charmecahrme · ccharme · chamre · charem · charmme · charrme · chharme · chrame

Frequency comparison

charité#6,379
charme#3,444

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "charité" and "charme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃa.ʁi.te\ versus \ʃaʁm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "charité" or "charme"?
"charme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,444 in our French list, against #6,379 for "charité". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering charité vs charme

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “charité” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list