éclairéevséclatéeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#16,782
“éclairée” frequency rank
#31,304
“éclatée” frequency rank
48086
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclairée éclatée
Definition Féminin singulier de éclairé. Féminin singulier de éclaté.

Where the eye mixes éclairée and éclatée

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

8 ch
éclairée
7 ch
éclatée

Look-alike desk: éclairée vs éclatée

A purely visual mix-up. éclairée (\e.klɛ.ʁe\) and éclatée (\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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48086, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éclairée is recorded at frequency rank #16,782, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.klɛ.ʁe\. éclatée is at rank #31,304, tagged as anadj, 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 48086, this pair ranks #181,775 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of éclairée vs éclatée

Shared letters: acelé. Private to "éclairée": ir. Private to "éclatée": t.

"éclairée" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVV  ·  "éclatée" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "éclairée" and "éclatée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.klɛ.ʁe\ versus \e.kla.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "éclairée" or "éclatée"?
"éclairée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,782 in our French list, against #31,304 for "éclatée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "éclairée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "éclatée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #181,775 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "éclairée" and "éclatée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclata vs éclatée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #181,775 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