Which to use
“élec” and “elfe” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,965
- “élec” frequency rank
- #22,552
- “elfe” frequency rank
- 68517
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élec | elfe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Électricité. | Génie de l’air, dans la mythologie scandinave. |
Where the eye mixes élec and elfe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: élec vs elfe
A purely visual mix-up. élec (\e.lɛk\) and elfe (\ɛlf\) 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 68517, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
élec is recorded at frequency rank #45,965, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.lɛk\. elfe is at rank #22,552, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛlf\.
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 68517, this pair ranks #58,861 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of élec vs elfe
Shared letters: el. Private to "élec": cé. Private to "elfe": f.
"élec" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "elfe" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- elfe ← efle · elef · elffe · ellfe · lefe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "élec" for "elfe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "élec" vs "elfe" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "élec" and "elfe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "élec" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "elfe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #58,861 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élec" and "elfe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "élec vs ell". 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 #58,861 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.