Which to use
“abaisser” and “apaiser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,589
- “abaisser” frequency rank
- #11,171
- “apaiser” frequency rank
- 25760
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | abaisser | apaiser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mettre en position plus basse, faire descendre, diminuer la hauteur. | Ramener au calme, à un état paisible. |
Where the eye mixes abaisser and apaiser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. abaisser runs 8 letters (VCVVCCVC) against apaiser's 7 (VCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between abaisser and apaiser
A purely visual mix-up. abaisser (\a.be.se\) and apaiser (\a.pe.ze\) 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 25760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
abaisser is recorded at frequency rank #14,589, classified as averb, pronounced \a.be.se\. apaiser is at rank #11,171, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.pe.ze\.
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 25760, this pair ranks #339,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of abaisser vs apaiser
Shared letters: aeirs. Private to "abaisser": b. Private to "apaiser": p.
"abaisser" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC · "apaiser" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "abaisser" for "apaiser" ever safe?
Frequency check: "abaisser" vs "apaiser" - which ranks higher?
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 "abaisser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apaiser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #339,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "abaisser" and "apaiser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "abaissée vs abaisser". 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 #339,000 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.