éclaircivséclaircieTell them apart

Quick tell: éclairci is a adjective, éclaircie is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“éclairci” is an adjective and “éclaircie” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#42,697
“éclairci” frequency rank
#36,211
“éclaircie” frequency rank
78908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclairci éclaircie
Definition Rendu plus clair. Endroit clair qui paraît au ciel en temps de brume ou entre des nuages.

Same sound, different letters: éclairci vs éclaircie

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. éclairci runs 8 letters (VCCVVCCV) against éclaircie's 9 (VCCVVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
éclairci
9 ch
éclaircie

Ear matches; page differs - éclairci and éclaircie

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: éclairci and éclaircie carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.klɛʁ.si\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “éclairci” sits inside “éclaircie”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éclairci is recorded at frequency rank #42,697, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.klɛʁ.si\. éclaircie is at rank #36,211, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.klɛʁ.si\.

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 78908, this pair ranks #24,560 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of éclairci vs éclaircie

Shared letters: acilré. Private to "éclairci": -. Private to "éclaircie": e.

"éclairci" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV  ·  "éclaircie" · 9 letters · shape VCCVVCCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éclairci" and "éclaircie" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "éclairci" is an adjective and "éclaircie" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "éclairci" or "éclaircie" show up more?
"éclaircie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,211 in our French list, against #42,697 for "éclairci". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "éclairci" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "éclaircie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #24,560 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "éclairci" and "éclaircie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclairci vs éclaircies". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #24,560 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list