Which to use
“ocre” and “oncle” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,110
- “ocre” frequency rank
- #3,415
- “oncle” frequency rank
- 29525
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ocre | oncle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Argile friable de couleur jaune, rouge ou brune suivant les oxydes, en particulier l’hydroxyde de fer et parfois d’oxyde de manganèse, qu’elle contient. | Frère ou beau-frère de l’un des parents. |
Where the eye mixes ocre and oncle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ocre and oncle
A purely visual mix-up. ocre (\ɔkʁ\) and oncle (\ɔ̃kl\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ocre is recorded at frequency rank #26,110, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔkʁ\. oncle is at rank #3,415, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔ̃kl\.
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 29525, this pair ranks #316,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ocre vs oncle
Shared letters: ceo. Private to "ocre": r. Private to "oncle": ln.
"ocre" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "oncle" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ocre" and "oncle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ocre" or "oncle"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ocre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "oncle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ocre" and "oncle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "och vs ocre". 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 #316,137 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.