Which to use
“ombre” and “ordre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,488
- “ombre” frequency rank
- #419
- “ordre” frequency rank
- 2907
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ombre | ordre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Obscurité relative que cause un corps opaque en interceptant la lumière. | Arrangement raisonné et logique, disposition régulière des choses les unes par rapport aux autres. |
Where the eye mixes ombre and ordre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ombre and ordre
A purely visual mix-up. ombre (\ɔ̃bʁ\) and ordre (\ɔʁdʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ombre is recorded at frequency rank #2,488, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ̃bʁ\. ordre is at rank #419, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔʁdʁ\.
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 2907, this pair ranks #435,227 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ombre vs ordre
Shared letters: eor. Private to "ombre": bm. Private to "ordre": d.
"ombre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV · "ordre" · 5 letters · shape VCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ombre" and "ordre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "ombre" or "ordre"?
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 "ombre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ordre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #435,227 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ombre" and "ordre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hombre vs ombre". 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 #435,227 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.