Which to use
“écraser” and “enrayer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,921
- “écraser” frequency rank
- #22,845
- “enrayer” frequency rank
- 30766
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | écraser | enrayer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aplatir, briser quelque chose par un grand poids, par une forte compression, par un coup violent. | Arrêter une roue par les rais, ou au moyen d’un sabot, d’un frein ou d’une chaîne, en sorte qu’elle ne tourne point et qu’elle ne fasse que glisser. |
Where the eye mixes écraser and enrayer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. écraser (VCCVCVC) and enrayer (VCCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between écraser and enrayer
A purely visual mix-up. écraser (\e.kʁa.ze\) and enrayer (\ɑ̃.ʁɛ.je\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30766, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
écraser is recorded at frequency rank #7,921, classified as averb, pronounced \e.kʁa.ze\. enrayer is at rank #22,845, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ʁɛ.je\.
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 30766, this pair ranks #308,130 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of écraser vs enrayer
Shared letters: aer. Private to "écraser": csé. Private to "enrayer": ny.
"écraser" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "enrayer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- enrayer ← enaryer · ennrayer · enraeyr · enrayerr · enrayre · enrayyer · enrrayer · enryaer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "écraser" and "enrayer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "écraser" or "enrayer"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "écraser" and "enrayer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "écraser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enrayer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,130 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "écraser" and "enrayer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enragés vs enrayer". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #308,130 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.