criéevscritèreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“criée” and “critère” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,260
“criée” frequency rank
#7,046
“critère” frequency rank
44306
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature criée critère
Definition Proclamation pour annoncer la vente des biens en justice. Ce qui sert à distinguer dans une chose le vrai du faux.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set criée and critère apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
criée
7 ch
critère

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. criée (\kʁi.je\) and critère (\kʁi.tɛʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

criée is recorded at frequency rank #37,260, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁi.je\. critère is at rank #7,046, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁi.tɛʁ\.

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 44306, this pair ranks #211,462 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of criée vs critère

Shared letters: ceir. Private to "criée": é. Private to "critère": .

"criée" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV  ·  "critère" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Frequency comparison

criée#37,260
critère#7,046

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "criée" and "critère" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁi.je\ versus \kʁi.tɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "criée" or "critère"?
"critère" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,046 in our French list, against #37,260 for "criée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering criée vs critère

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 “criée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list