croquevscroupeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,703
“croque” frequency rank
#35,453
“croupe” frequency rank
54156
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature croque croupe
Definition Croque-monsieur. Partie arrière du corps de quadrupèdes, tel le cheval, située après les reins (région lombaire) et les hanches mais avant la queue, et qui correspond aux fesses chez l’homme.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set croque and croupe apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
croque
6 ch
croupe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. croque (\kʁɔk\) and croupe (\kʁup\) 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 54156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

croque is recorded at frequency rank #18,703, classified as anoun, pronounced \kʁɔk\. croupe is at rank #35,453, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kʁup\.

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 54156, this pair ranks #135,895 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of croque vs croupe

Shared letters: ceoru. Private to "croque": q. Private to "croupe": p.

"croque" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "croupe" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • croqueccroque · corque · croqeu · croqque · crouqe · crqoue · crroque · rcoque
  • croupeccroupe · corupe · cropue · crouep · crouppe · crroupe · cruope · rcoupe

Frequency comparison

croque#18,703
croupe#35,453

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "croque" and "croupe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kʁɔk\ versus \kʁup\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "croque" or "croupe"?
"croque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,703 in our French list, against #35,453 for "croupe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering croque vs croupe

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 “croque” 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