Which to use
“gâche” and “gouache” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,895
- “gâche” frequency rank
- #39,819
- “gouache” frequency rank
- 55714
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gâche | gouache |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie d’une serrure dans laquelle le pêne s’insère pour maintenir une porte fermée. | Peinture opaque et pâteuse composée d’eau mêlée de gomme. |
Where the eye mixes gâche and gouache
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. gâche runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against gouache's 7 (CVVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses gâche with gouache
A purely visual mix-up. gâche (\ɡɑʃ\) and gouache (\ɡwaʃ\) 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 55714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gâche is recorded at frequency rank #15,895, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡɑʃ\. gouache is at rank #39,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡwaʃ\.
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 55714, this pair ranks #125,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of gâche vs gouache
Shared letters: cegh. Private to "gâche": â. Private to "gouache": aou.
"gâche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "gouache" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- gouache ← ggouache · goauche · gouacche · gouaceh · gouachhe · gouahce · goucahe · guoache
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gâche" for "gouache" ever safe?
Which is more common, "gâche" or "gouache"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "gâche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gouache" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gâche" and "gouache" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gabe vs gâche". 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 #125,689 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.