Which to use
“ides” and “iris” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,389
- “ides” frequency rank
- #9,504
- “iris” frequency rank
- 51893
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ides | iris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Le quinzième jour des mois de mars, de mai, de juillet et d’octobre dans le calendrier des anciens Romains, et le treizième des autres mois. | Partie colorée de l’œil qui environne la prunelle et qui présente quelquefois des nuances circulaires et concentriques. |
Where the eye mixes ides and iris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ides and iris
A purely visual mix-up. ides (\id\) and iris (\i.ʁis\) 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 51893, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ides is recorded at frequency rank #42,389, classified as anoun, pronounced \id\. iris is at rank #9,504, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.ʁis\.
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 51893, this pair ranks #151,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ides vs iris
Shared letters: is. Private to "ides": de. Private to "iris": r.
"ides" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "iris" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ides" for "iris" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ides" or "iris" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ides" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "iris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #151,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ides" and "iris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ides vs ime". 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 #151,675 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.