éclatantvsécrasantWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#22,740
“éclatant” frequency rank
#25,528
“écrasant” frequency rank
48268
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclatant écrasant
Definition Qui a de l’éclat. Dont le poids est tel qu’il peut écraser.

Letter map: éclatant vs écrasant

Shared letters muted; letters that set éclatant and écrasant apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. éclatant and écrasant follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
éclatant
8 ch
écrasant

Corpus notes: éclatant and écrasant

éclatant and écrasant are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éclatant is recorded at frequency rank #22,740, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.kla.tɑ̃\. écrasant is at rank #25,528, tagged as anadj.

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 48268, this pair ranks #180,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of éclatant vs écrasant

Shared letters: acnté. Private to "éclatant": l. Private to "écrasant": rs.

"éclatant" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC  ·  "écrasant" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "éclatant" and "écrasant" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "éclatant" vs "écrasant" - which ranks higher?
"éclatant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,740 in our French list, against #25,528 for "écrasant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "éclatant" vs "écrasant" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "éclatant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "écrasant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #180,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "éclatant" and "écrasant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclatant vs épatant". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #180,267 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