Which to use
“ide” is a noun and “ill” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,577
- “ide” frequency rank
- #15,649
- “ill” frequency rank
- 39226
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ide | ill |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Poisson rouge d’eau douce. | Malade, malsain. |
Where the eye mixes ide and ill
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ide vs ill
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ide is \id\ while ill is \ˈɪl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ide is recorded at frequency rank #23,577, classified as anoun, pronounced \id\. ill is at rank #15,649, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈɪl\.
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 39226, this pair ranks #249,534 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ide vs ill
Shared letters: i. Private to "ide": de. Private to "ill": l.
"ide" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ill" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ide" for "ill" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ide" or "ill" show up more?
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 "ide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ill" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #249,534 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ide" and "ill" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ide vs isi". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #249,534 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.