Which to use
“macaire” and “mâchoire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,023
- “macaire” frequency rank
- #12,002
- “mâchoire” frequency rank
- 60025
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | macaire | mâchoire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Oiseleur à la glu. | Chacune des deux parties osseuses de la bouche dans lesquelles les dents sont enchâssées. |
Where the eye mixes macaire and mâchoire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. macaire runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against mâchoire's 8 (CVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between macaire and mâchoire
A purely visual mix-up. macaire ([maˈkajɾe]) and mâchoire (\mɑ.ʃwaʁ\) 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 60025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
macaire is recorded at frequency rank #48,023, classified as anoun, pronounced [maˈkajɾe]. mâchoire is at rank #12,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɑ.ʃwaʁ\.
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 60025, this pair ranks #99,871 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of macaire vs mâchoire
Shared letters: ceimr. Private to "macaire": a. Private to "mâchoire": hoâ.
"macaire" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "mâchoire" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- macaire ← amcaire · maacire · macaier · macairre · macarie · maccaire · maciare · mcaaire
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "macaire" for "mâchoire" ever safe?
Which is more common, "macaire" or "mâchoire"?
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 "macaire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mâchoire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #99,871 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "macaire" and "mâchoire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "macaire vs maudire". 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 #99,871 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.