Which to use
“craie” and “crainte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,105
- “craie” frequency rank
- #5,022
- “crainte” frequency rank
- 25127
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | craie | crainte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Roche biogène de couleur blanche, constituée presque exclusivement de carbonate de calcium provenant essentiellement des débris de l’exosquelette de microorganismes planctoniques vivants au Crétacé. | Fait de craindre ou de redouter quelque chose. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set craie and crainte apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
craie and crainte form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25127, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
craie is recorded at frequency rank #20,105, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛ\. crainte is at rank #5,022, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁɛ̃t\.
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 25127, this pair ranks #342,656 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "craie" and "crainte" be used interchangeably?
Remembering craie vs crainte
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “craie” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable