Which to use
“rare” is an adjective and “robe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,785
- “rare” frequency rank
- #2,147
- “robe” frequency rank
- 3932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rare | robe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est en petit nombre ; qui se trouve difficilement. | Vêtement long, en forme de fourreau plus ou moins ample, qui enveloppe le corps, tient aux épaules et a des manches ou des ouvertures pour les bras. |
Where the eye mixes rare and robe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between rare and robe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: rare is \ʁaʁ\ while robe is \ʁɔb\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rare is recorded at frequency rank #1,785, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁaʁ\. robe is at rank #2,147, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʁɔb\.
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 3932, this pair ranks #432,860 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rare vs robe
Shared letters: er. Private to "rare": a. Private to "robe": bo.
"rare" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "robe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "rare" for "robe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "rare" vs "robe" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "rare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "robe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,860 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rare" and "robe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "robe vs roya". 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 #432,860 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.