Which to use
“chemises” and “chimistes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,539
- “chemises” frequency rank
- #34,023
- “chimistes” frequency rank
- 45562
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | chemises | chimistes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de chemise. | Pluriel de chimiste. |
Where the eye mixes chemises and chimistes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. chemises runs 8 letters (CCVCVCVC) against chimistes's 9 (CCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses chemises with chimistes
A purely visual mix-up. chemises (\ʃə.miz\) and chimistes (\ʃi.mist\) 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 45562, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
chemises is recorded at frequency rank #11,539, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃə.miz\. chimistes is at rank #34,023, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃi.mist\.
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 45562, this pair ranks #201,793 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of chemises vs chimistes
Shared letters: cehims. Private to "chemises": -. Private to "chimistes": t.
"chemises" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "chimistes" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "chemises" for "chimistes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "chemises" vs "chimistes" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "chemises" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "chimistes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #201,793 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "chemises" and "chimistes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "chimistes vs choristes". 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 #201,793 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.