Which to use
“opaque” and “optique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,689
- “opaque” frequency rank
- #4,514
- “optique” frequency rank
- 21203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | opaque | optique |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui n’est pas transparent, qui ne laisse pas passer la lumière. | Relatif aux phénomènes de la lumière et de la vision. |
Where the eye mixes opaque and optique
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. opaque runs 6 letters (VCVCVV) against optique's 7 (VCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses opaque with optique
A purely visual mix-up. opaque (\ɔ.pak\) and optique (\ɔp.tik\) 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 21203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
opaque is recorded at frequency rank #16,689, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔ.pak\. optique is at rank #4,514, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɔp.tik\.
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 21203, this pair ranks #364,373 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of opaque vs optique
Shared letters: eopqu. Private to "opaque": a. Private to "optique": it.
"opaque" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV · "optique" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "opaque" and "optique" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "opaque" or "optique"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "opaque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "optique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #364,373 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "opaque" and "optique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "opaque vs orque". 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 #364,373 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.