Which to use
“timbré” and “tombé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,096
- “timbré” frequency rank
- #2,342
- “tombé” frequency rank
- 39438
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | timbré | tombé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Muni d’un timbre. | Déchu, qui n’a plus beaucoup de succès. |
Where the eye mixes timbré and tombé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between timbré and tombé
A purely visual mix-up. timbré (\tɛ̃.bʁe\) and tombé (\tɔ̃.be\) 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 39438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
timbré is recorded at frequency rank #37,096, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɛ̃.bʁe\. tombé is at rank #2,342, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɔ̃.be\.
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 39438, this pair ranks #247,973 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of timbré vs tombé
Shared letters: bmté. Private to "timbré": ir. Private to "tombé": o.
"timbré" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "tombé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "timbré" for "tombé" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "timbré" or "tombé" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "timbré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tombé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,973 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "timbré" and "tombé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Tibre vs timbré". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #247,973 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.