Which to use
“intérêt” is a noun and “interim” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #616
- “intérêt” frequency rank
- #32,024
- “interim” frequency rank
- 32640
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intérêt | interim |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui importe, ce qui convient, en quelque manière que ce soit, à l’utilité, à l’avantage d’une personne ou d’une collectivité, d’un individu ou d’une personne morale, en ce qui concerne soit leur bien physique et matériel, soit leur bien intellectuel et moral, soit leur considération et leur honneur. | Provisoire, temporaire. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set intérêt and interim apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
intérêt and interim form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32640, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intérêt is recorded at frequency rank #616, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.ʁɛ\. 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 32640, this pair ranks #295,953 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "intérêt" and "interim" be used interchangeably?
Remembering intérêt vs interim
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “intérêt”; for an adjective, it's “interim”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “intérêt” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable