Which to use
“ire” and “iris” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,590
- “ire” frequency rank
- #9,504
- “iris” frequency rank
- 33094
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ire | iris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Colère. | Partie colorée de l’œil qui environne la prunelle et qui présente quelquefois des nuances circulaires et concentriques. |
Where the eye mixes ire and iris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: ire vs iris
A purely visual mix-up. ire (\iʁ\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33094, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ire is recorded at frequency rank #23,590, classified as anoun, pronounced \iʁ\. 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 33094, this pair ranks #292,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ire vs iris
Shared letters: ir. Private to "ire": e. Private to "iris": s.
"ire" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "iris" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- iris ← iirs · iriss · irris · irsi · riis
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ire" and "iris" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "ire" vs "iris" - which ranks higher?
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 "ire" 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 #292,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ire" and "iris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ire vs isi". 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 #292,902 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.