Which to use
“cirques” and “claques” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,746
- “cirques” frequency rank
- #21,570
- “claques” frequency rank
- 54316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cirques | claques |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cirque. | Pluriel de claque. |
Where the eye mixes cirques and claques
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses cirques with claques
A purely visual mix-up. cirques (\siʁk\) and claques (\klak\) 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 54316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cirques is recorded at frequency rank #32,746, classified as anoun, pronounced \siʁk\. claques is at rank #21,570, tagged as anoun, pronounced \klak\.
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 54316, this pair ranks #134,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cirques vs claques
Shared letters: ceqsu. Private to "cirques": ir. Private to "claques": al.
"cirques" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "claques" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cirques" and "claques" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "cirques" vs "claques" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cirques" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "claques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cirques" and "claques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cirques vs conques". 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 #134,847 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.