Which to use
“cible” and “cil” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,511
- “cible” frequency rank
- #33,611
- “cil” frequency rank
- 36122
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cible | cil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sorte de planche servant de but pour le tir à l’arc ou avec des armes à feu. | Poil des paupières. |
Where the eye mixes cible and cil
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cible and cil
A purely visual mix-up. cible (\sibl\) and cil (\sil\) 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 36122, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cible is recorded at frequency rank #2,511, classified as anoun, pronounced \sibl\. cil is at rank #33,611, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sil\.
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 36122, this pair ranks #271,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cible vs cil
Shared letters: cil. Private to "cible": be. Private to "cil": -.
"cible" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cil" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cible ← cbile · ccible · cibble · cibel · ciblle · cilbe · icble
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cible" and "cil" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "cible" or "cil"?
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 "cible" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cil" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cible" and "cil" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cil vs ciro". 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 #271,856 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.