clorevsCréWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: clore is a verb, Cré is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“clore” is a verb and “Cré” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,684
“clore” frequency rank
#40,203
“Cré” frequency rank
58887
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature clore Cré
Definition Fermer, enfermer, mettre dans une enceinte. Ancien nom de la commune française Cré-sur-Loir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set clore and Cré apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
clore
3 ch
Cré

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: clore is \klɔʁ\ while Cré is \kʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

clore is recorded at frequency rank #18,684, classified as averb, pronounced \klɔʁ\. Cré is at rank #40,203, tagged as aname, pronounced \kʁe\.

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 58887, this pair ranks #106,310 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of clore vs Cré

Shared letters: cr. Private to "clore": elo. Private to "Cré": é.

"clore" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Cré" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • clorecclore · cllore · cloer · clorre · clroe · colre · lcore

Frequency comparison

clore#18,684
Cré#40,203

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "clore" and "Cré" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "clore" is a verb and "Cré" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "clore" or "Cré"?
"clore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,684 in our French list, against #40,203 for "Cré". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering clore vs Cré

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “clore”; for a name, it's “Cré”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “clore” 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