Which to use
“privilège” is a noun and “privilégier” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,732
- “privilège” frequency rank
- #10,554
- “privilégier” frequency rank
- 17286
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | privilège | privilégier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faculté accordée à un particulier ou à une communauté de faire quelque chose ou de jouir de quelque avantage qui n’est pas de droit commun. | Gratifier, doter d’un privilège, favoriser. |
Where the eye mixes privilège and privilégier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. privilège runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCV) against privilégier's 11 (CCVCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: privilège vs privilégier
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: privilège is \pʁi.vi.lɛʒ\ while privilégier is \pʁi.vi.le.ʒje\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
privilège is recorded at frequency rank #6,732, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁi.vi.lɛʒ\. privilégier is at rank #10,554, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁi.vi.le.ʒje\.
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 17286, this pair ranks #383,898 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of privilège vs privilégier
Shared letters: egilprv. Private to "privilège": è. Private to "privilégier": é.
"privilège" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV · "privilégier" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "privilège" and "privilégier" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "privilège" vs "privilégier" - which ranks higher?
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 "privilège" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "privilégier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #383,898 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "privilège" and "privilégier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "privilégient vs privilégier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #383,898 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.