Which to use
“chiffrer” and “coiffer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,900
- “chiffrer” frequency rank
- #24,908
- “coiffer” frequency rank
- 49808
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chiffrer | coiffer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se servir des chiffres pour calculer. | Couvrir la tête de quelqu’un, y mettre quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes chiffrer and coiffer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. chiffrer runs 8 letters (CCVCCCVC) against coiffer's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses chiffrer with coiffer
A purely visual mix-up. chiffrer (\ʃi.fʁe\) and coiffer (\kwa.fe\) 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 49808, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chiffrer is recorded at frequency rank #24,900, classified as averb, pronounced \ʃi.fʁe\. coiffer is at rank #24,908, tagged as averb, pronounced \kwa.fe\.
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 49808, this pair ranks #167,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chiffrer vs coiffer
Shared letters: cefir. Private to "chiffrer": h. Private to "coiffer": o.
"chiffrer" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCCVC · "coiffer" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chiffrer" for "coiffer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "chiffrer" or "coiffer"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "chiffrer" and "coiffer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "chiffrer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coiffer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chiffrer" and "coiffer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chiffrée vs chiffrer". 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 #167,714 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.