Which to use
“cirque” and “clique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,922
- “cirque” frequency rank
- #9,969
- “clique” frequency rank
- 14891
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cirque | clique |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lieu destiné, chez les Romains, à accueillir les jeux publics, et particulièrement les diverses formes de lutte et les courses de chevaux et de chars. | Coterie, bande de gens qui veulent parvenir à quelque chose d’une manière peu honnête. |
Where the eye mixes cirque and clique
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cirque and clique
A purely visual mix-up. cirque (\siʁk\) and clique (\klik\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14891, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cirque is recorded at frequency rank #4,922, classified as anoun, pronounced \siʁk\. clique is at rank #9,969, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klik\.
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 14891, this pair ranks #394,758 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cirque vs clique
Shared letters: ceiqu. Private to "cirque": r. Private to "clique": l.
"cirque" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "clique" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "cirque" and "clique" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "cirque" or "clique"?
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 "cirque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,758 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cirque" and "clique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "claquée vs clique". 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 #394,758 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.