interditvsinterimWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“interdit” and “interim” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,920
“interdit” frequency rank
#32,024
“interim” frequency rank
33944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature interdit interim
Definition Défendu par la loi, ou par la morale. Provisoire, temporaire.

Where the eye mixes interdit and interim

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
interdit
7 ch
interim

Look-alike desk: interdit vs interim

A purely visual mix-up. interdit (\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.di\) and interim (\ˈɪn.tə.ɹɪm\) 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 33944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

interdit is recorded at frequency rank #1,920, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɛʁ.di\. interim is at rank #32,024, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈɪn.tə.ɹɪm\.

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 33944, this pair ranks #287,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of interdit vs interim

Shared letters: einrt. Private to "interdit": d. Private to "interim": m.

"interdit" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "interim" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • interditinetrdit · innterdit · intedrit · interddit · interditt · interdti · interidt · interrdit
  • interiminetrim · innterim · inteirm · interimm · intermi · interrim · intreim · intterim

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "interdit" and "interim" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.tɛʁ.di\ versus \ˈɪn.tə.ɹɪm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "interdit" vs "interim" - which ranks higher?
"interdit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,920 in our French list, against #32,024 for "interim". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "interdit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "interim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #287,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "interdit" and "interim" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "interim vs interné". 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 #287,215 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list