Which to use
“aigre” is an adjective and “augure” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,810
- “aigre” frequency rank
- #19,747
- “augure” frequency rank
- 51557
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | aigre | augure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a une saveur acide et amère provoquant un sentiment désagréable. | Présage par lequel on juge de l’avenir. Chez les Romains, il se disait des signes que les augures tiraient de l’observation du vol des oiseaux. Aujourd’hui il se dit de tout ce qui peut faire deviner l’avenir. |
Where the eye mixes aigre and augure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. aigre runs 5 letters (VVCCV) against augure's 6 (VVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses aigre with augure
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: aigre is \ɛɡʁ\ while augure is \o.ɡyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51557, 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\. augure is at rank #19,747, tagged as anoun, pronounced \o.ɡyʁ\.
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 51557, this pair ranks #154,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of aigre vs augure
Shared letters: aegr. Private to "aigre": i. Private to "augure": u.
"aigre" · 5 letters · shape VVCCV · "augure" · 6 letters · shape VVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "aigre" for "augure" ever safe?
Which is more common, "aigre" or "augure"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "aigre" and "augure" 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 "augure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #154,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "aigre" and "augure" 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 #154,123 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.