ratervsrimerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,018
“rater” frequency rank
#44,694
“rimer” frequency rank
50712
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature rater rimer
Definition Ne pas partir, en parlant d’une arme à feu. Faire une rime (le sujet est une personne).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set rater and rimer apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
rater
5 ch
rimer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. rater (\ʁa.te\) and rimer (\ʁi.me\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

rater is recorded at frequency rank #6,018, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁa.te\. rimer is at rank #44,694, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁi.me\.

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 50712, this pair ranks #160,543 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of rater vs rimer

Shared letters: er. Private to "rater": at. Private to "rimer": im.

"rater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "rimer" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raterarter · raetr · raterr · ratre · ratter · rrater · rtaer
  • rimerirmer · riemr · rimerr · rimmer · rimre · rmier · rrimer

Frequency comparison

rater#6,018
rimer#44,694

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "rater" and "rimer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʁa.te\ versus \ʁi.me\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "rater" or "rimer"?
"rater" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,018 in our French list, against #44,694 for "rimer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering rater vs rimer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “rater” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list