Which to use
“dîme” and “dure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,076
- “dîme” frequency rank
- #1,912
- “dure” frequency rank
- 35988
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dîme | dure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Portion des grains, des vins, des fruits, etc., qui se payait à l’église, ou au seigneur du lieu, et qui en était ordinairement le dixième. | Femme pleine de dureté, insensible ou très sévère. |
Where the eye mixes dîme and dure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dîme with dure
A purely visual mix-up. dîme (\dim\) and dure (\dyʁ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35988, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dîme is recorded at frequency rank #34,076, classified as anoun, pronounced \dim\. dure is at rank #1,912, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dyʁ\.
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 35988, this pair ranks #272,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dîme vs dure
Shared letters: de. Private to "dîme": mî. Private to "dure": ru.
"dîme" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "dure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dure ← ddure · drue · duer · durre · udre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dîme" and "dure" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dîme" or "dure"?
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 "dîme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #272,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dîme" and "dure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dîme vs domi". 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 #272,776 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.