Which to use
“flèche” is a noun and “fléchir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,828
- “flèche” frequency rank
- #38,812
- “fléchir” frequency rank
- 45640
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flèche | fléchir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Trait qu’on lance avec un arc ou une arbalète. | Faire ployer, courber. |
Where the eye mixes flèche and fléchir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. flèche runs 6 letters (CCVCCV) against fléchir's 7 (CCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between flèche and fléchir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: flèche is \flɛʃ\ while fléchir is \fle.ʃiʁ\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flèche is recorded at frequency rank #6,828, classified as anoun, pronounced \flɛʃ\. fléchir is at rank #38,812, tagged as averb, pronounced \fle.ʃiʁ\.
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 45640, this pair ranks #201,195 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flèche vs fléchir
Shared letters: cfhl. Private to "flèche": eè. Private to "fléchir": iré.
"flèche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "fléchir" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "flèche" and "fléchir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "flèche" or "fléchir"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "flèche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fléchir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #201,195 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flèche" and "fléchir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fléchi vs fléchir". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #201,195 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.