Which to use
“rayé” and “rude” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,981
- “rayé” frequency rank
- #8,151
- “rude” frequency rank
- 25132
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | rayé | rude |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a des raies. | Âpre au toucher ; brut ; dur. |
Where the eye mixes rayé and rude
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. rayé (CVVV) and rude (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses rayé with rude
A purely visual mix-up. rayé (\ʁɛ.je\) and rude (\ʁyd\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25132, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
rayé is recorded at frequency rank #16,981, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁɛ.je\. rude is at rank #8,151, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁyd\.
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 25132, this pair ranks #342,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of rayé vs rude
Shared letters: r. Private to "rayé": ayé. Private to "rude": deu.
"rayé" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "rude" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- rude ← rdue · rrude · rudde · rued · urde
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "rayé" and "rude" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "rayé" or "rude" show up more?
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 "rayé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rude" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,625 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "rayé" and "rude" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rayé 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 #342,625 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.