Which to use
“tâter” and “tracer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,196
- “tâter” frequency rank
- #11,869
- “tracer” frequency rank
- 48065
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | tâter | tracer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Toucher, manier doucement une chose, pour connaître son état. | Tirer des traits, indiquer les lignes d’une figure, etc. |
Where the eye mixes tâter and tracer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. tâter runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against tracer's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses tâter with tracer
A purely visual mix-up. tâter (\tɑ.te\) and tracer (\tʁa.se\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
tâter is recorded at frequency rank #36,196, classified as averb, pronounced \tɑ.te\. tracer is at rank #11,869, tagged as averb, pronounced \tʁa.se\.
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 48065, this pair ranks #181,938 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of tâter vs tracer
Shared letters: ert. Private to "tâter": â. Private to "tracer": ac.
"tâter" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "tracer" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- tracer ← rtacer · tarcer · traccer · tracerr · tracre · traecr · trcaer · trracer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "tâter" for "tracer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "tâter" or "tracer"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "tâter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tracer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #181,938 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "tâter" and "tracer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tâter vs titrer". 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 #181,938 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.