Which to use
“mage” and “mirage” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,491
- “mage” frequency rank
- #17,482
- “mirage” frequency rank
- 37973
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mage | mirage |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prêtre de la religion de Zoroastre, chez les Perses et les Mèdes. | Phénomène dû à l’incurvation des rayons lumineux se réfléchissant sur les couches surchauffées de l’atmosphère voisines du sol et donnant souvent l’impression d’une réflexion sur une grande étendue d’eau. |
Where the eye mixes mage and mirage
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mage runs 4 letters (CVCV) against mirage's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mage vs mirage
A purely visual mix-up. mage (\maʒ\) and mirage (\mi.ʁaʒ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37973, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mage is recorded at frequency rank #20,491, classified as anoun, pronounced \maʒ\. mirage is at rank #17,482, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mi.ʁaʒ\.
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 37973, this pair ranks #258,636 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mage vs mirage
Shared letters: aegm. Private to "mage": -. Private to "mirage": ir.
"mage" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mirage" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mage" and "mirage" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "mage" or "mirage"?
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 "mage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mirage" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,636 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mage" and "mirage" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mage vs MSG". 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 #258,636 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.