Which to use
“embête” is a verb and “emblème” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,944
- “embête” frequency rank
- #14,669
- “emblème” frequency rank
- 32613
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | embête | emblème |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de embêter. | Espèce de figure symbolique, qui est d’ordinaire accompagnée de quelques paroles en forme de sentence. |
Where the eye mixes embête and emblème
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. embête runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against emblème's 7 (VCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses embête with emblème
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: embête is \ɑ̃.bɛt\ while emblème is \ɑ̃.blɛm\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
embête is recorded at frequency rank #17,944, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.bɛt\. emblème is at rank #14,669, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.blɛm\.
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 32613, this pair ranks #296,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of embête vs emblème
Shared letters: bem. Private to "embête": tê. Private to "emblème": lè.
"embête" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "emblème" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "embête" for "emblème" ever safe?
Which is more common, "embête" or "emblème"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "embête" and "emblème" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "embête" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "emblème" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "embête" and "emblème" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embête vs entêté". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #296,136 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.