Which to use
“clé” and “cul” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,987
- “clé” frequency rank
- #999
- “cul” frequency rank
- 2986
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clé | cul |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument de métal que l’on introduit dans une serrure pour ouvrir ou fermer un accès. Ancienne clé à panneton que l'on place et fait tourner dans la serrure d'une porte, d'un coffre, etc. | Derrière d’un animal, d’un humain, ses fesses, son postérieur. |
Where the eye mixes clé and cul
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. clé (CCV) and cul (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between clé and cul
A purely visual mix-up. clé (\kle\) and cul (\ky\) 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 2986, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clé is recorded at frequency rank #1,987, classified as anoun, pronounced \kle\. cul is at rank #999, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ky\.
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 2986, this pair ranks #435,054 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clé vs cul
Shared letters: cl. Private to "clé": é. Private to "cul": u.
"clé" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "cul" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clé" and "cul" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "clé" or "cul"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "clé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cul" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #435,054 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clé" and "cul" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs clé". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #435,054 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.