cliquevscroqueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,969
“clique” frequency rank
#18,703
“croque” frequency rank
28672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clique croque
Definition Coterie, bande de gens qui veulent parvenir à quelque chose d’une manière peu honnête. Croque-monsieur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clique and croque apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
clique
6 ch
croque

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. clique (\klik\) and croque (\kʁɔk\) 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 28672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clique is recorded at frequency rank #9,969, classified as anoun, pronounced \klik\. croque is at rank #18,703, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɔk\.

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 28672, this pair ranks #321,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of clique vs croque

Shared letters: cequ. Private to "clique": il. Private to "croque": or.

"clique" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "croque" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cliquecclique · cilque · cliqeu · cliqque · cliuqe · cllique · clqiue · lcique
  • croqueccroque · corque · croqeu · croqque · crouqe · crqoue · crroque · rcoque

Frequency comparison

clique#9,969
croque#18,703

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clique" and "croque" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\klik\ versus \kʁɔk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "clique" or "croque"?
"clique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,969 in our French list, against #18,703 for "croque". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clique vs croque

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 “clique” 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