Which to use
“cher” and “chéris” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #682
- “cher” frequency rank
- #25,925
- “chéris” frequency rank
- 26607
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cher | chéris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est chéri, tendrement aimé, auquel on tient beaucoup. | Masculin pluriel de chéri. |
Where the eye mixes cher and chéris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cher runs 4 letters (CCVC) against chéris's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cher and chéris
A purely visual mix-up. cher (\ʃɛʁ\) and chéris (\ʃe.ʁi\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cher is recorded at frequency rank #682, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃɛʁ\. chéris is at rank #25,925, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʃe.ʁi\.
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 26607, this pair ranks #333,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cher vs chéris
Shared letters: chr. Private to "cher": e. Private to "chéris": isé.
"cher" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "chéris" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cher ← ccher · cehr · cherr · chher · chre · hcer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cher" for "chéris" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cher" or "chéris"?
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 "cher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chéris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cher" and "chéris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cheik vs chéris". 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 #333,940 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.