Which to use
“lèvre” is a noun and “libre” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,423
- “lèvre” frequency rank
- #648
- “libre” frequency rank
- 14071
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | lèvre | libre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie extérieure et charnue qui borde la bouche, qui couvre les dents et qui aide à la formation des sons, à l’articulation des mots. Note d’usage : Très souvent employé au pluriel pour comprendre la lèvre supérieure et la lèvre inférieure. | Qui a le pouvoir de faire ce qu’il veut, d’agir ou de ne pas agir, par opposition à esclave, servile, ou par opposition à captif, prisonnier. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lèvre and libre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lèvre is \lɛvʁ\ while libre is \libʁ\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14071, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
lèvre is recorded at frequency rank #13,423, classified as anoun, pronounced \lɛvʁ\. libre is at rank #648, tagged as anadj, pronounced \libʁ\.
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 14071, this pair ranks #398,318 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of lèvre vs libre
Shared letters: elr. Private to "lèvre": vè. Private to "libre": bi.
"lèvre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "libre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- libre ← ilbre · lbire · libbre · librre · lirbe · llibre
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "lèvre" and "libre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "lèvre" or "libre"?
Remembering lèvre vs libre
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lèvre”; for an adjective, it's “libre”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lèvre” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable