Which to use
“embrase” is a verb and “emphase” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,444
- “embrase” frequency rank
- #26,714
- “emphase” frequency rank
- 71158
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | embrase | emphase |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de embraser. | Affectation pompeuse dans les paroles, dans le débit, dans la mimique et dans les gestes. Enflure, manière de faire l’important devant l’auditoire, de gonfler son discours avec des mots ronflants. |
Where the eye mixes embrase and emphase
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses embrase with emphase
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: embrase is \ɑ̃.bʁaz\ while emphase is \ɑ̃.faz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
embrase is recorded at frequency rank #44,444, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.bʁaz\. emphase is at rank #26,714, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.faz\.
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 71158, this pair ranks #48,592 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of embrase vs emphase
Shared letters: aems. Private to "embrase": br. Private to "emphase": hp.
"embrase" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "emphase" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "embrase" for "emphase" ever safe?
Frequency check: "embrase" vs "emphase" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "embrase" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "emphase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,592 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "embrase" and "emphase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "embrase vs embrassa". 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 #48,592 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.