Which to use
“grâces” and “grimaces” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,441
- “grâces” frequency rank
- #32,423
- “grimaces” frequency rank
- 49864
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | grâces | grimaces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Jeu des grâces. | Pluriel de grimace. |
Where the eye mixes grâces and grimaces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. grâces runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against grimaces's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between grâces and grimaces
A purely visual mix-up. grâces (\ɡʁɑs\) and grimaces (\ɡʁi.mas\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49864, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
grâces is recorded at frequency rank #17,441, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁɑs\. grimaces is at rank #32,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁi.mas\.
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 49864, this pair ranks #167,281 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of grâces vs grimaces
Shared letters: cegrs. Private to "grâces": â. Private to "grimaces": aim.
"grâces" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "grimaces" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- grimaces ← ggrimaces · girmaces · griamces · grimacces · grimacess · grimacse · grimaecs · grimcaes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "grâces" for "grimaces" ever safe?
Frequency check: "grâces" vs "grimaces" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "grâces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grimaces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #167,281 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "grâces" and "grimaces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "grâces vs gracie". 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 #167,281 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.