glisséevsglisserWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“glissée” and “glisser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,815
“glissée” frequency rank
#6,832
“glisser” frequency rank
46647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature glissée glisser
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de glisser. Se mettre en mouvement, comme en coulant sur une surface lisse ou le long d’un autre corps.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set glissée and glisser apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
glissée
7 ch
glisser

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. glissée and glisser are pronounced identically (\ɡli.se\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

glissée is recorded at frequency rank #39,815, classified as averb, pronounced \ɡli.se\. glisser is at rank #6,832, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɡli.se\.

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 46647, this pair ranks #193,288 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of glissée vs glisser

Shared letters: egils. Private to "glissée": é. Private to "glisser": r.

"glissée" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVV  ·  "glisser" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • glissergglisser · gilsser · gliser · glisesr · glisserr · glissre · gllisser · glsiser

Frequency comparison

glissée#39,815
glisser#6,832

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "glissée" and "glisser" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɡli.se\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "glissée" or "glisser"?
"glisser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,832 in our French list, against #39,815 for "glissée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering glissée vs glisser

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “glissée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list