Which to use
“gré” and “grue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,767
- “gré” frequency rank
- #16,633
- “grue” frequency rank
- 22400
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gré | grue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Volonté, caprice, fantaisie. | Gros oiseau voyageur, de l’ordre des Échassiers, qui vole fort haut et par bandes. |
Where the eye mixes gré and grue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: gré vs grue
A purely visual mix-up. gré (\ɡʁe\) and grue (\ɡʁy\) 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 22400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
gré is recorded at frequency rank #5,767, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁe\. grue is at rank #16,633, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁy\.
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 22400, this pair ranks #358,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gré vs grue
Shared letters: gr. Private to "gré": é. Private to "grue": eu.
"gré" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "grue" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- grue ← ggrue · greu · grrue · gure · rgue
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "gré" and "grue" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "gré" or "grue"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "gré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "grue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #358,179 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gré" and "grue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Gruber vs grue". 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 #358,179 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.