Which to use
“filtre” and “fire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,298
- “filtre” frequency rank
- #10,874
- “fire” frequency rank
- 17172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | filtre | fire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Corps poreux (feutre, papier, charbon, etc.) au travers duquel on fait passer une substance liquide, gazeuse ou corpusculaire (la lumière, le courant électrique), pour la clarifier, l’épurer ou en séparer certains éléments. | Feu (le phénomène en général). |
Where the eye mixes filtre and fire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between filtre and fire
A purely visual mix-up. filtre (\filtʁ\) and fire (\ˈfaɪ.ɚ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
filtre is recorded at frequency rank #6,298, classified as anoun, pronounced \filtʁ\. fire is at rank #10,874, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈfaɪ.ɚ\.
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 17172, this pair ranks #384,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of filtre vs fire
Shared letters: efir. Private to "filtre": lt. Private to "fire": -.
"filtre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "fire" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "filtre" for "fire" ever safe?
Frequency check: "filtre" vs "fire" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "filtre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "filtre" and "fire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "filez vs fire". 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 #384,445 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.