Which to use
“hériter” and “hésiter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,626
- “hériter” frequency rank
- #8,722
- “hésiter” frequency rank
- 33348
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hériter | hésiter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Devenir propriétaire d’une chose par droit de succession. | Être incertain, indécis sur le parti, sur la résolution que l’on doit prendre. |
Where the eye mixes hériter and hésiter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. hériter and hésiter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between hériter and hésiter
A purely visual mix-up. hériter (^((h muet))\e.ʁi.te\) and hésiter (^((h muet))\e.zi.te\) 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 a single letter - r in “hériter” becomes s in “hésiter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33348, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hériter is recorded at frequency rank #24,626, classified as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.ʁi.te\. hésiter is at rank #8,722, tagged as averb, pronounced ^((h muet))\e.zi.te\.
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 33348, this pair ranks #291,241 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hériter vs hésiter
Shared letters: ehirté. Private to "hériter": -. Private to "hésiter": s.
"hériter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "hésiter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "hériter" and "hésiter" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "hériter" or "hésiter"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "hériter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hésiter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,241 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hériter" and "hésiter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hériter vs hermite". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291,241 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.