éclaircivséclairéWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#42,697
“éclairci” frequency rank
#10,617
“éclairé” frequency rank
53314
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclairci éclairé
Definition Rendu plus clair. Qui a de grandes lumières, beaucoup de connaissances, beaucoup d’expérience.

Where the eye mixes éclairci and éclairé

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. éclairci runs 8 letters (VCCVVCCV) against éclairé's 7 (VCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
éclairci
7 ch
éclairé

Look-alike desk: éclairci vs éclairé

A purely visual mix-up. éclairci (\e.klɛʁ.si\) and éclairé (\e.klɛ.ʁe\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53314, 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\. éclairé is at rank #10,617, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.klɛ.ʁe\.

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 53314, this pair ranks #141,573 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of éclairci vs éclairé

Shared letters: acilré. Private to "éclairci": -. Private to "éclairé": -.

"éclairci" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV  ·  "éclairé" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "éclairci" for "éclairé" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\e.klɛʁ.si\ versus \e.klɛ.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "éclairci" vs "éclairé" - which ranks higher?
"éclairé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,617 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

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "éclairci" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "éclairé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #141,573 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "éclairci" and "éclairé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclairci vs éclaircies". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #141,573 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