clacvscracWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,310
“clac” frequency rank
#42,255
“crac” frequency rank
78565
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clac crac
Definition Onomatopée qui traduit un bruit sec et rapide. Exprime le bruit que font certains corps, durs, secs et solides, soit en se frottant violemment, soit en éclatant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clac and crac apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
clac
4 ch
crac

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. clac (\klak\) and crac (\kʁak\) 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 a single letter - l in “clac” becomes r in “crac”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78565, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clac is recorded at frequency rank #36,310, classified as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \klak\. crac is at rank #42,255, tagged as anonomatopoeia, pronounced \kʁak\.

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 78565, this pair ranks #25,413 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clac vs crac

Shared letters: ac. Private to "clac": l. Private to "crac": r.

"clac" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "crac" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • claccalc · cclac · clacc · clca · cllac · lcac
  • craccarc · ccrac · cracc · crca · crrac · rcac

Frequency comparison

clac#36,310
crac#42,255

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clac" and "crac" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\klak\ versus \kʁak\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clac" or "crac"?
"clac" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,310 in our French list, against #42,255 for "crac". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clac vs crac

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “clac” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list