chaudesvschauvesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,124
“chaudes” frequency rank
#20,083
“chauves” frequency rank
30207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chaudes chauves
Definition Féminin pluriel de chaud. Pluriel de chauve.

Where the eye mixes chaudes and chauves

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
chaudes
7 ch
chauves

Why the eye confuses chaudes with chauves

A purely visual mix-up. chaudes (\ʃod\) and chauves (\ʃov\) 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 a single letter - d in “chaudes” becomes v in “chauves”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chaudes is recorded at frequency rank #10,124, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃod\. chauves is at rank #20,083, 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 30207, this pair ranks #311,849 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chaudes vs chauves

Shared letters: acehsu. Private to "chaudes": d. Private to "chauves": v.

"chaudes" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC  ·  "chauves" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • chaudescahudes · cchaudes · chadues · chauddes · chaudess · chaudse · chaueds · chhaudes
  • chauvescahuves · cchauves · chauevs · chauvess · chauvse · chauvves · chavues · chhauves

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "chaudes" for "chauves" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ʃod\ versus \ʃov\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "chaudes" vs "chauves" - which ranks higher?
"chaudes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,124 in our French list, against #20,083 for "chauves". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "chaudes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "chauves" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #311,849 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "chaudes" and "chauves" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chauves vs Chávez". 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 #311,849 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list