Which to use
“cortège” and “corvée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,131
- “cortège” frequency rank
- #21,583
- “corvée” frequency rank
- 31714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cortège | corvée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suite de personnes qui en accompagnent une autre avec cérémonie et pour lui faire honneur. | Travail et service gratuit qui était dû par le paysan à son seigneur. |
Where the eye mixes cortège and corvée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. cortège runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against corvée's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cortège and corvée
A purely visual mix-up. cortège (\kɔʁ.tɛʒ\) and corvée (\kɔʁ.ve\) 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 31714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cortège is recorded at frequency rank #10,131, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.tɛʒ\. corvée is at rank #21,583, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.ve\.
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 31714, this pair ranks #302,013 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cortège vs corvée
Shared letters: ceor. Private to "cortège": gtè. Private to "corvée": vé.
"cortège" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "corvée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cortège" for "corvée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "cortège" or "corvée" show up more?
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 "cortège" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "corvée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #302,013 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cortège" and "corvée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "copiée vs corvée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #302,013 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.