Which to use
“mages” and “mirages” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,382
- “mages” frequency rank
- #43,014
- “mirages” frequency rank
- 64396
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mages | mirages |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mage. | Pluriel de mirage. |
Where the eye mixes mages and mirages
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mages runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against mirages's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mages with mirages
A purely visual mix-up. mages (\maʒ\) and mirages (\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 64396, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mages is recorded at frequency rank #21,382, classified as anoun, pronounced \maʒ\. mirages is at rank #43,014, 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 64396, this pair ranks #77,265 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mages vs mirages
Shared letters: aegms. Private to "mages": -. Private to "mirages": ir.
"mages" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mirages" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mages" and "mirages" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mages" vs "mirages" - 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 "mages" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mirages" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #77,265 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mages" and "mirages" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mirages vs mitigés". 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 #77,265 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.