Which to use
“gré” and “gun” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,767
- “gré” frequency rank
- #15,153
- “gun” frequency rank
- 20920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gré | gun |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Volonté, caprice, fantaisie. | Pistolet, flingue. |
Where the eye mixes gré and gun
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses gré with gun
A purely visual mix-up. gré (\ɡʁe\) and gun (\ɡœn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20920, 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\. gun is at rank #15,153, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡœn\.
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 20920, this pair ranks #365,811 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gré vs gun
Shared letters: g. Private to "gré": ré. Private to "gun": nu.
"gré" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "gun" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "gré" and "gun" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "gré" vs "gun" - which ranks higher?
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 "gré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "gun" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #365,811 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gré" and "gun" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glue vs gun". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #365,811 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.