Which to use
“complice” and “compliqué” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,290
- “complice” frequency rank
- #2,415
- “compliqué” frequency rank
- 9705
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | complice | compliqué |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui participe au délit ou au crime commis par un autre. | Complexe, embrouillé. |
Where the eye mixes complice and compliqué
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. complice runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against compliqué's 9 (CVCCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between complice and compliqué
A purely visual mix-up. complice (\kɔ̃.plis\) and compliqué (\kɔ̃.pli.ke\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
complice is recorded at frequency rank #7,290, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.plis\. compliqué is at rank #2,415, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pli.ke\.
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 9705, this pair ranks #415,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of complice vs compliqué
Shared letters: cilmop. Private to "complice": e. Private to "compliqué": qué.
"complice" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV · "compliqué" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- complice ← ccomplice · cmoplice · comlpice · commplice · compilce · complcie · complicce · compliec
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "complice" and "compliqué" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "complice" or "compliqué"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "complice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "compliqué" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #415,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "complice" and "compliqué" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "complaire vs complice". 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 #415,725 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.