Which to use
“aigre” and “aiguës” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,810
- “aigre” frequency rank
- #33,965
- “aiguës” frequency rank
- 65775
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aigre | aiguës |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. | Féminin pluriel de aigu. |
Where the eye mixes aigre and aiguës
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. aigre runs 5 letters (VVCCV) against aiguës's 6 (VVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses aigre with aiguës
A purely visual mix-up. aigre (\ɛɡʁ\) and aiguës (\e.ɡy\) 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 65775, 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\. aiguës is at rank #33,965, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.ɡy\.
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 65775, this pair ranks #70,833 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of aigre vs aiguës
Shared letters: agi. Private to "aigre": er. Private to "aiguës": suë.
"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "aiguës" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- aigre ← agire · aiger · aiggre · aigrre · airge · iagre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "aigre" and "aiguës" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "aigre" or "aiguës" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "aigre" and "aiguës" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "aigre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "aiguës" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,833 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aigre" and "aiguës" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aiguës vs ainés". 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 #70,833 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.