Which to use
“régaler” and “rigoler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,017
- “régaler” frequency rank
- #10,229
- “rigoler” frequency rank
- 34246
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | régaler | rigoler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Donner un régal, offrir un plaisir de table. | S’amuser ; rire. |
Where the eye mixes régaler and rigoler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses régaler with rigoler
A purely visual mix-up. régaler (\ʁe.ɡa.le\) and rigoler (\ʁi.ɡɔ.le\) 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 34246, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
régaler is recorded at frequency rank #24,017, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.ɡa.le\. rigoler is at rank #10,229, tagged as averb, pronounced \ʁi.ɡɔ.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 34246, this pair ranks #285,149 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of régaler vs rigoler
Shared letters: eglr. Private to "régaler": aé. Private to "rigoler": io.
"régaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "rigoler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- rigoler ← irgoler · rgioler · riggoler · rigloer · rigoelr · rigolerr · rigoller · rigolre
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "régaler" and "rigoler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "régaler" or "rigoler" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "régaler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rigoler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,149 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "régaler" and "rigoler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "régaler vs rénales". 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 #285,149 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.