Which to use
“agréer” and “arrêter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,642
- “agréer” frequency rank
- #733
- “arrêter” frequency rank
- 38375
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | agréer | arrêter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prendre à gré ; recevoir favorablement. | Empêcher quelqu’un ou quelque chose de continuer son déplacement. |
Where the eye mixes agréer and arrêter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. agréer runs 6 letters (VCCVVC) against arrêter's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses agréer with arrêter
A purely visual mix-up. agréer (\a.ɡʁe.e\) and arrêter (\a.ʁe.te\) 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 38375, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
agréer is recorded at frequency rank #37,642, classified as averb, pronounced \a.ɡʁe.e\. arrêter is at rank #733, tagged as averb, pronounced \a.ʁe.te\.
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 38375, this pair ranks #255,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of agréer vs arrêter
Shared letters: aer. Private to "agréer": gé. Private to "arrêter": tê.
"agréer" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "arrêter" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "agréer" and "arrêter" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "agréer" or "arrêter" show up more?
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 "agréer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "agréer" and "arrêter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "agréer vs agrégés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #255,700 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.