Which to use
“écarter” and “éclater” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,101
- “écarter” frequency rank
- #7,772
- “éclater” frequency rank
- 16873
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écarter | éclater |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Séparer ; éloigner. | Exploser; se rompre, se briser en projetant des fragments. |
Where the eye mixes écarter and éclater
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. écarter (VCVCCVC) and éclater (VCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between écarter and éclater
A purely visual mix-up. écarter (\e.kaʁ.te\) and éclater (\e.kla.te\) 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 16873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écarter is recorded at frequency rank #9,101, classified as averb, pronounced \e.kaʁ.te\. éclater is at rank #7,772, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.kla.te\.
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 16873, this pair ranks #385,845 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of écarter vs éclater
Shared letters: acerté. Private to "écarter": -. Private to "éclater": l.
"écarter" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "éclater" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écarter" and "éclater" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "écarter" or "éclater" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "écarter" and "éclater" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "écarter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "éclater" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #385,845 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écarter" and "éclater" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Easter vs écarter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #385,845 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.