Which to use
“clergé” and “courge” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,821
- “clergé” frequency rank
- #30,546
- “courge” frequency rank
- 39367
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clergé | courge |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Corps des ecclésiastiques, organisé selon une hiérarchie ecclésiale. | Genre de plantes de la famille des Cucurbitacées (Cucurbitaceae). |
Where the eye mixes clergé and courge
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. clergé (CCVCCV) and courge (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses clergé with courge
A purely visual mix-up. clergé (\klɛʁ.ʒe\) and courge (\kuʁʒ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39367, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clergé is recorded at frequency rank #8,821, classified as anoun, pronounced \klɛʁ.ʒe\. courge is at rank #30,546, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kuʁʒ\.
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 39367, this pair ranks #248,521 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clergé vs courge
Shared letters: cegr. Private to "clergé": lé. Private to "courge": ou.
"clergé" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "courge" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- courge ← ccourge · coruge · cougre · coureg · courgge · courrge · cuorge · ocurge
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clergé" for "courge" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clergé" or "courge"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "clergé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "courge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,521 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clergé" and "courge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courge vs curage". 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 #248,521 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.