Which to use
“harmonica” and “harmonie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,558
- “harmonica” frequency rank
- #6,199
- “harmonie” frequency rank
- 40757
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | harmonica | harmonie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument de musique composé de cloches ou de verres, de différents timbres, qu’on fait résonner. | Concours et accord de divers sons. |
Where the eye mixes harmonica and harmonie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses harmonica with harmonie
A purely visual mix-up. harmonica (^((h muet))\aʁ.mɔ.ni.ka\) and harmonie (^((h muet))\aʁ.mɔ.ni\) 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 40757, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
harmonica is recorded at frequency rank #34,558, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\aʁ.mɔ.ni.ka\. harmonie is at rank #6,199, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\aʁ.mɔ.ni\.
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 40757, this pair ranks #238,124 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of harmonica vs harmonie
Shared letters: ahimnor. Private to "harmonica": c. Private to "harmonie": e.
"harmonica" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "harmonie" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "harmonica" for "harmonie" ever safe?
Which is more common, "harmonica" or "harmonie"?
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 "harmonica" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "harmonie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,124 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "harmonica" and "harmonie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "harmonica vs harmonies". 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 #238,124 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.