Which to use
“gré” and “guy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,767
- “gré” frequency rank
- #3,263
- “guy” frequency rank
- 9030
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | gré | guy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Volonté, caprice, fantaisie. | Mec, gars, type. |
Where the eye mixes gré and guy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses gré with guy
A purely visual mix-up. gré (\ɡʁe\) and guy (\ˈɡaɪ\) 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 9030, 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\. guy is at rank #3,263, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈɡaɪ\.
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 9030, this pair ranks #418,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of gré vs guy
Shared letters: g. Private to "gré": ré. Private to "guy": uy.
"gré" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "guy" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "gré" for "guy" ever safe?
Frequency check: "gré" vs "guy" - 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 "guy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "gré" and "guy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "glue vs gré". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #418,039 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.