Which to use
“efface” is a noun and “effacent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,492
- “efface” frequency rank
- #30,140
- “effacent” frequency rank
- 40632
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | efface | effacent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petit cube de caoutchouc qui sert à effacer ce qui a été écrit avec un crayon de plomb. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de effacer. |
Same sound, different letters: efface vs effacent
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters.
Ear matches; page differs - efface and effacent
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: efface and effacent carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.fas\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “efface” sits inside “effacent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
efface is recorded at frequency rank #10,492, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.fas\. effacent is at rank #30,140, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.fas\.
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 40632, this pair ranks #239,112 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of efface vs effacent
Shared letters: acef. Private to "efface": -. Private to "effacent": nt.
"efface" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "effacent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "efface" and "effacent" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "efface" or "effacent"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "efface" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "effacent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #239,112 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "efface" and "effacent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "effacent vs effacera". 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 #239,112 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.