aigrevsaigrisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“aigre” and “aigris” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,810
“aigre” frequency rank
#46,567
“aigris” frequency rank
78377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aigre aigris
Definition Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. Masculin pluriel de aigri.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aigre and aigris apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aigre
6 ch
aigris

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aigre (\ɛɡʁ\) and aigris (\e.ɡʁi\) 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 78377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

aigre is recorded at frequency rank #31,810, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛɡʁ\. aigris is at rank #46,567, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.ɡʁi\.

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 78377, this pair ranks #25,904 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aigre vs aigris

Shared letters: agir. Private to "aigre": e. Private to "aigris": s.

"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV  ·  "aigris" · 6 letters · shape VVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aigreagire · aiger · aiggre · aigrre · airge · iagre
  • aigrisagiris · aiggris · aigirs · aigriss · aigrris · aigrsi · airgis · iagris

Frequency comparison

aigre#31,810
aigris#46,567

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aigre" and "aigris" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡʁ\ versus \e.ɡʁi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aigre" or "aigris"?
"aigre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,810 in our French list, against #46,567 for "aigris". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aigre vs aigris

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “aigre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list