Which to use
“agrandir” and “arrondir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,513
- “agrandir” frequency rank
- #29,227
- “arrondir” frequency rank
- 41740
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | agrandir | arrondir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rendre plus grand. | Rendre rond. |
Where the eye mixes agrandir and arrondir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. agrandir and arrondir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses agrandir with arrondir
A purely visual mix-up. agrandir (\a.ɡʁɑ̃.diʁ\) and arrondir (\a.ʁɔ̃.diʁ\) 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 41740, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
agrandir is recorded at frequency rank #12,513, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ɡʁɑ̃.diʁ\. arrondir is at rank #29,227, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁɔ̃.diʁ\.
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 41740, this pair ranks #230,844 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of agrandir vs arrondir
Shared letters: adinr. Private to "agrandir": g. Private to "arrondir": o.
"agrandir" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC · "arrondir" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "agrandir" for "arrondir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "agrandir" vs "arrondir" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "agrandir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrondir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,844 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "agrandir" and "arrondir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arrondies vs arrondir". 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 #230,844 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.