Which to use
“clinique” and “critique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,667
- “clinique” frequency rank
- #934
- “critique” frequency rank
- 4601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clinique | critique |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a lieu auprès du lit des malades. | Qui annonce une crise, qui a rapport à la crise. |
Where the eye mixes clinique and critique
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. clinique and critique follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: clinique vs critique
A purely visual mix-up. clinique (\kli.nik\) and critique (\kʁi.tik\) 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 4601, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clinique is recorded at frequency rank #3,667, classified as anadj, pronounced \kli.nik\. critique is at rank #934, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kʁi.tik\.
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 4601, this pair ranks #431,196 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clinique vs critique
Shared letters: ceiqu. Private to "clinique": ln. Private to "critique": rt.
"clinique" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV · "critique" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "clinique" and "critique" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "clinique" vs "critique" - which ranks higher?
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 "clinique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "critique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,196 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clinique" and "critique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "critique vs critiquées". 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 #431,196 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.