Which to use
“mœurs” is a noun and “mûres” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,361
- “mœurs” frequency rank
- #25,411
- “mûres” frequency rank
- 35772
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mœurs | mûres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Habitudes, naturelles ou acquises, relatives à la pratique du bien ou du mal au sens de la morale. | Féminin pluriel de mûr. |
Where the eye mixes mœurs and mûres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: mœurs vs mûres
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mœurs is \mœʁ\ while mûres is \myʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 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 35772, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mœurs is recorded at frequency rank #10,361, classified as anoun, pronounced \mœʁ\. mûres is at rank #25,411, tagged as anadj, pronounced \myʁ\.
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 35772, this pair ranks #274,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mœurs vs mûres
Shared letters: mrs. Private to "mœurs": uœ. Private to "mûres": eû.
"mœurs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "mûres" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mœurs" and "mûres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mœurs" vs "mûres" - 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 "mœurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mûres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #274,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mœurs" and "mûres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "muer vs mûres". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #274,346 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.