Which to use
“extreme” and “extrêmes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,481
- “extreme” frequency rank
- #6,295
- “extrêmes” frequency rank
- 24776
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | extreme | extrêmes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nominatif féminin singulier de la déclinaison forte de extrem. | Pluriel de extrême. |
Where the eye mixes extreme and extrêmes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. extreme runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against extrêmes's 8 (VCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between extreme and extrêmes
A purely visual mix-up. extreme (\ɛksˈtʁeːmə\) and extrêmes (\ɛks.tʁɛm\) 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 24776, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
extreme is recorded at frequency rank #18,481, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛksˈtʁeːmə\. extrêmes is at rank #6,295, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.tʁɛm\.
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 24776, this pair ranks #344,680 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of extreme vs extrêmes
Shared letters: emrtx. Private to "extreme": -. Private to "extrêmes": sê.
"extreme" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "extrêmes" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- extreme ← etxreme · exrteme · exterme · extreem · extremme · extrmee · extrreme · exttreme
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "extreme" for "extrêmes" ever safe?
Frequency check: "extreme" vs "extrêmes" - 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 "extreme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "extrêmes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #344,680 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "extreme" and "extrêmes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "extreme vs extrémité". 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 #344,680 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.