Which to use
“machine” and “machisme” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,599
- “machine” frequency rank
- #45,157
- “machisme” frequency rank
- 46756
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | machine | machisme |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Engin, instrument propre à faire mouvoir, à tirer, lever, traîner, lancer quelque chose, ou à mettre en œuvre un agent naturel, comme le feu, l’air, l’eau, l’électricité, le gaz, ou toute source d’énergie afin de produire un résultat. | Culte de la virilité comprise comme une supériorité de l’homme sur la femme. Masculinité affichée, virilité revendiquée, telle que pratiquée dans les années 1970, en Amérique latine, et dans le bassin méditerranéen. |
Where the eye mixes machine and machisme
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses machine with machisme
A purely visual mix-up. machine (\ma.ʃin\) and machisme (\ma.tʃism\) 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 46756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
machine is recorded at frequency rank #1,599, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.ʃin\. machisme is at rank #45,157, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.tʃism\.
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 46756, this pair ranks #192,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of machine vs machisme
Shared letters: acehim. Private to "machine": n. Private to "machisme": s.
"machine" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "machisme" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "machine" and "machisme" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "machine" vs "machisme" - which ranks higher?
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 "machine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "machisme" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "machine" and "machisme" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "machisme vs machiste". 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 #192,362 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.