parabolevsparoleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“parabole” and “parole” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,308
“parabole” frequency rank
#1,005
“parole” frequency rank
24313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parabole parole
Definition Allégorie qui abrite une idée morale. Faculté naturelle de parler.

Where the eye mixes parabole and parole

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. parabole runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against parole's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
parabole
6 ch
parole

Visual trap between parabole and parole

A purely visual mix-up. parabole (\pa.ʁa.bɔl\) and parole (\pa.ʁɔl\) 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 24313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parabole is recorded at frequency rank #23,308, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.ʁa.bɔl\. parole is at rank #1,005, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.ʁɔl\.

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 24313, this pair ranks #347,318 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of parabole vs parole

Shared letters: aelopr. Private to "parabole": b. Private to "parole": -.

"parabole" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "parole" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parabole ← aprabole · paarbole · parabbole · parabloe · paraboel · parabolle · paraoble · parbaole
  • parole ← aprole · paorle · parloe · paroel · parolle · parrole · pparole · praole

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parabole" and "parole" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pa.ʁa.bɔl\ versus \pa.ʁɔl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "parabole" or "parole" show up more?
"parole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,005 in our French list, against #23,308 for "parabole". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "parabole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "parole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #347,318 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "parabole" and "parole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parabole vs paraboles". 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 #347,318 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list