Which to use
“contraception” and “contravention” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,101
- “contraception” frequency rank
- #19,246
- “contravention” frequency rank
- 35347
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | contraception | contravention |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Moyen employé pour éviter que des rapports sexuels n’aboutissent à une grossesse. | Action de contrevenir à une loi, à une ordonnance, à un règlement, à un décret ou à un contrat qu’on a fait. |
Where the eye mixes contraception and contravention
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. contraception and contravention follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: contraception vs contravention
A purely visual mix-up. contraception (\kɔ̃.tʁa.sɛp.sjɔ̃\) and contravention (\kɔ̃.tʁa.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) 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 35347, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
contraception is recorded at frequency rank #16,101, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁa.sɛp.sjɔ̃\. contravention is at rank #19,246, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁa.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃\.
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 35347, this pair ranks #277,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of contraception vs contravention
Shared letters: aceinort. Private to "contraception": p. Private to "contravention": v.
"contraception" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCCVVC · "contravention" · 13 letters · shape CVCCCVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- contraception ← ccontraception · cnotraception · conntraception · conrtaception · contarception · contracception · contracepiton · contracepption
- contravention ← ccontravention · cnotravention · conntravention · conrtavention · contarvention · contraevntion · contraveniton · contravenntion
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "contraception" and "contravention" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "contraception" vs "contravention" - which ranks higher?
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 "contraception" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contravention" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "contraception" and "contravention" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "contraceptifs vs contraception". 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 #277,351 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.