Which to use
“chelem” and “cheveu” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,989
- “chelem” frequency rank
- #15,833
- “cheveu” frequency rank
- 29822
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chelem | cheveu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Annonce par le preneur qu’il compte réaliser toutes les levées d’une partie (grand chelem) ou toutes moins une (petit chelem). | Filament organique synthétisé par l’épiderme du crâne humain. |
Where the eye mixes chelem and cheveu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. chelem (CCVCVC) and cheveu (CCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses chelem with cheveu
A purely visual mix-up. chelem (\ʃlɛm\) and cheveu (\ʃə.vø\) 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 29822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chelem is recorded at frequency rank #13,989, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃlɛm\. cheveu is at rank #15,833, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃə.vø\.
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 29822, this pair ranks #314,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chelem vs cheveu
Shared letters: ceh. Private to "chelem": lm. Private to "cheveu": uv.
"chelem" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "cheveu" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "chelem" and "cheveu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "chelem" or "cheveu" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "chelem" and "cheveu" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chelem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cheveu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #314,242 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chelem" and "cheveu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheveu vs chevreau". 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 #314,242 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.