Which to use
“graisser” is a verb and “grasse” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #47,923
- “graisser” frequency rank
- #7,967
- “grasse” frequency rank
- 55890
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | graisser | grasse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enduire de graisse, lubrifier, oindre avec un corps gras. | Féminin singulier de gras. |
Where the eye mixes graisser and grasse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. graisser runs 8 letters (CCVVCCVC) against grasse's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses graisser with grasse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: graisser is \ɡʁe.se\ while grasse is \ɡʁɑs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
graisser is recorded at frequency rank #47,923, classified as averb, pronounced \ɡʁe.se\. grasse is at rank #7,967, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɡʁɑs\.
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 55890, this pair ranks #124,549 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of graisser vs grasse
Shared letters: aegrs. Private to "graisser": i. Private to "grasse": -.
"graisser" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCVC · "grasse" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "graisser" for "grasse" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "graisser" or "grasse" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "graisser" and "grasse" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "graisser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grasse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #124,549 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "graisser" and "grasse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "graisser vs grasset". 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 #124,549 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.