Which to use
“arêtes” and “arrêts” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,766
- “arêtes” frequency rank
- #5,631
- “arrêts” frequency rank
- 29397
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arêtes | arrêts |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de arête. | Défense qui est faite à un officier de sortir de chez lui, ou de s’éloigner d’un lieu déterminé. |
Where the eye mixes arêtes and arrêts
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. arêtes (VCVCVC) and arrêts (VCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: arêtes vs arrêts
A purely visual mix-up. arêtes (\a.ʁɛt\) and arrêts (\a.ʁɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29397, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arêtes is recorded at frequency rank #23,766, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.ʁɛt\. arrêts is at rank #5,631, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.ʁɛ\.
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 29397, this pair ranks #316,941 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arêtes vs arrêts
Shared letters: arstê. Private to "arêtes": e. Private to "arrêts": -.
"arêtes" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "arrêts" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "arêtes" for "arrêts" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "arêtes" or "arrêts" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "arêtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "arrêts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #316,941 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arêtes" and "arrêts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "arêtes vs Artis". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #316,941 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.