Which to use
“frein” is a noun and “frémir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,569
- “frein” frequency rank
- #34,100
- “frémir” frequency rank
- 41669
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | frein | frémir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dispositif destiné à modérer la vitesse d’un mécanisme, à enrayer les roues d’un véhicule. | Faire entendre une succession de petits bruits, de tremblements. |
Where the eye mixes frein and frémir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. frein runs 5 letters (CCVVC) against frémir's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses frein with frémir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: frein is \fʁɛ̃\ while frémir is \fʁe.miʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41669, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
frein is recorded at frequency rank #7,569, classified as anoun, pronounced \fʁɛ̃\. frémir is at rank #34,100, tagged as averb, pronounced \fʁe.miʁ\.
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 41669, this pair ranks #231,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of frein vs frémir
Shared letters: fir. Private to "frein": en. Private to "frémir": mé.
"frein" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "frémir" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- frein ← ferin · ffrein · freinn · freni · frien · frrein · rfein
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "frein" for "frémir" ever safe?
Which is more common, "frein" or "frémir"?
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 "frein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "frémir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "frein" and "frémir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "frémir vs Frexit". 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 #231,365 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.