Which to use
“cimes” and “combes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,727
- “cimes” frequency rank
- #29,288
- “combes” frequency rank
- 67015
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cimes | combes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cime. | Pluriel de combe. |
Where the eye mixes cimes and combes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cimes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against combes's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: cimes vs combes
A purely visual mix-up. cimes (\sim\) and combes (\kɔ̃b\) 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 67015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cimes is recorded at frequency rank #37,727, classified as anoun, pronounced \sim\. combes is at rank #29,288, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃b\.
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 67015, this pair ranks #65,282 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cimes vs combes
Shared letters: cems. Private to "cimes": i. Private to "combes": bo.
"cimes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "combes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cimes" for "combes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cimes" vs "combes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cimes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "combes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,282 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cimes" and "combes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cakes vs cimes". 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 #65,282 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.