compèrevscompiléWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: compère is a noun, compilé is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“compère” is a noun and “compilé” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,532
“compère” frequency rank
#28,494
“compilé” frequency rank
59026
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compère compilé
Definition Parrain d’un enfant, par rapport à la marraine et aux parents de l'enfant. Participe passé masculin singulier de compiler.

Where the eye mixes compère and compilé

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
compère
7 ch
compilé

Visual trap between compère and compilé

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: compère is \kɔ̃.pɛʁ\ while compilé is \kɔ̃.pi.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59026, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compère is recorded at frequency rank #30,532, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.pɛʁ\. compilé is at rank #28,494, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.pi.le\.

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 59026, this pair ranks #105,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of compère vs compilé

Shared letters: cmop. Private to "compère": erè. Private to "compilé": ilé.

"compère" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "compilé" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "compère" for "compilé" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "compère" is a noun and "compilé" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "compère" or "compilé" show up more?
"compilé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,494 in our French list, against #30,532 for "compère". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "compère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "compilé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compère" and "compilé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "commère vs compère". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #105,516 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list