CHRvscléConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#30,945
“CHR” frequency rank
#1,987
“clé” frequency rank
32932
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature CHR clé
Definition Centre hospitalier régional (en France). Instrument de métal que l’on introduit dans une serrure pour ouvrir ou fermer un accès. Ancienne clé à panneton que l'on place et fait tourner dans la serrure d'une porte, d'un coffre, etc.

Letter map: CHR vs clé

Shared letters muted; letters that set CHR and clé apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
CHR
3 ch
clé

Spelling & dictionary notes on CHR vs clé

CHR and clé are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

CHR is recorded at frequency rank #30,945, classified as anoun. clé is at rank #1,987, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kle\.

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 32932, this pair ranks #293,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of CHR vs clé

Shared letters: c. Private to "CHR": hr. Private to "clé": .

"CHR" · 3 letters · shape CCC  ·  "clé" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "CHR" and "clé" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "CHR" or "clé"?
"clé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,987 in our French list, against #30,945 for "CHR". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pair "CHR" vs "clé" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "CHR" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "clé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #293,995 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "CHR" and "clé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CHR vs ciro". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #293,995 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