Which to use
“bâtisses” and “bêtises” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,683
- “bâtisses” frequency rank
- #9,614
- “bêtises” frequency rank
- 49297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bâtisses | bêtises |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de bâtisse. | Pluriel de bêtise. |
Where the eye mixes bâtisses and bêtises
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. bâtisses runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against bêtises's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between bâtisses and bêtises
A purely visual mix-up. bâtisses (\bɑ.tis\) and bêtises (\be.tiz\) 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 49297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bâtisses is recorded at frequency rank #39,683, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɑ.tis\. bêtises is at rank #9,614, tagged as anoun, pronounced \be.tiz\.
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 49297, this pair ranks #171,838 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bâtisses vs bêtises
Shared letters: beist. Private to "bâtisses": â. Private to "bêtises": ê.
"bâtisses" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "bêtises" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "bâtisses" and "bêtises" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "bâtisses" vs "bêtises" - 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 "bâtisses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bêtises" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #171,838 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bâtisses" and "bêtises" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bâtisses vs bâtisseur". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #171,838 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.