Which to use
“aigre” and “alegre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,810
- “aigre” frequency rank
- #36,235
- “alegre” frequency rank
- 68045
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aigre | alegre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. | Gai, joyeux. |
Where the eye mixes aigre and alegre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. aigre runs 5 letters (VVCCV) against alegre's 6 (VCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses aigre with alegre
A purely visual mix-up. aigre (\ɛɡʁ\) and alegre ([aˈle.ɣ̞ɾe]) 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 68045, 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\. alegre is at rank #36,235, tagged as anadj, pronounced [aˈle.ɣ̞ɾe].
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 68045, this pair ranks #60,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of aigre vs alegre
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "aigre": i. Private to "alegre": l.
"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "alegre" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aigre" for "alegre" ever safe?
Frequency check: "aigre" vs "alegre" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "aigre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alegre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aigre" and "alegre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aigre vs Aure". 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 #60,837 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.