Which to use
“aïeux” and “apex” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,331
- “aïeux” frequency rank
- #28,445
- “apex” frequency rank
- 55776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aïeux | apex |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de aïeul : tous ceux de qui l’on descend. | Extrémité d’un organe. |
Where the eye mixes aïeux and apex
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. aïeux runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against apex's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: aïeux vs apex
A purely visual mix-up. aïeux (\a.jø\) and apex (\a.pɛks\) 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 55776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
aïeux is recorded at frequency rank #27,331, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.jø\. apex is at rank #28,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.pɛks\.
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 55776, this pair ranks #125,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aïeux vs apex
Shared letters: aex. Private to "aïeux": uï. Private to "apex": p.
"aïeux" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "apex" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- apex ← aepx · apexx · appex · apxe · paex
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aïeux" for "apex" ever safe?
Frequency check: "aïeux" vs "apex" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "aïeux" and "apex" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "aïeux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "apex" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aïeux" and "apex" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "apex vs aves". 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 #125,311 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.