aigrevsailéWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,810
“aigre” frequency rank
#38,126
“ailé” frequency rank
69936
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature aigre ailé
Definition Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. Qui possède des ailes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set aigre and ailé apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
aigre
4 ch
ailé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. aigre (\ɛɡʁ\) and ailé (\ɛ.le\) 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 69936, 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\. ailé is at rank #38,126, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ.le\.

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 69936, this pair ranks #53,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of aigre vs ailé

Shared letters: ai. Private to "aigre": egr. Private to "ailé": .

"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV  ·  "ailé" · 4 letters · shape VVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aigreagire · aiger · aiggre · aigrre · airge · iagre

Frequency comparison

aigre#31,810
ailé#38,126

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "aigre" and "ailé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡʁ\ versus \ɛ.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "aigre" or "ailé"?
"aigre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,810 in our French list, against #38,126 for "ailé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering aigre vs ailé

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