Which to use
“râler” and “ravaler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,865
- “râler” frequency rank
- #44,673
- “ravaler” frequency rank
- 63538
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | râler | ravaler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faire entendre un râle, des râles en respirant. | Ingurgiter de nouveau, faire descendre dans le gosier. |
Where the eye mixes râler and ravaler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. râler runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against ravaler's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: râler vs ravaler
A purely visual mix-up. râler (\ʁa.le\) and ravaler (\ʁa.va.le\) 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 63538, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
râler is recorded at frequency rank #18,865, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁa.le\. ravaler is at rank #44,673, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁa.va.le\.
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 63538, this pair ranks #81,482 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of râler vs ravaler
Shared letters: elr. Private to "râler": â. Private to "ravaler": av.
"râler" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "ravaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ravaler ← arvaler · raavler · ravaelr · ravalerr · ravaller · ravalre · ravlaer · ravvaler
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "râler" for "ravaler" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "râler" or "ravaler" show up more?
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 "râler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ravaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,482 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "râler" and "ravaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ravagés vs ravaler". 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 #81,482 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.