Which to use
“griffes” and “griffon” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,588
- “griffes” frequency rank
- #35,975
- “griffon” frequency rank
- 48563
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | griffes | griffon |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de griffe. | Animal fabuleux, moitié aigle et moitié lion. |
Where the eye mixes griffes and griffon
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses griffes with griffon
A purely visual mix-up. griffes (\ɡʁif\) and griffon (\ɡʁi.fɔ̃\) 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 48563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
griffes is recorded at frequency rank #12,588, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁif\. griffon is at rank #35,975, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁi.fɔ̃\.
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 48563, this pair ranks #177,934 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of griffes vs griffon
Shared letters: fgir. Private to "griffes": es. Private to "griffon": no.
"griffes" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "griffon" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "griffes" and "griffon" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "griffes" or "griffon"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "griffes" and "griffon" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "griffes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "griffon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,934 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "griffes" and "griffon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "greffon vs griffon". 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 #177,934 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.