Which to use
“maigre” and “mainte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,733
- “maigre” frequency rank
- #45,723
- “mainte” frequency rank
- 54456
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maigre | mainte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui contient peu ou pas de graisse ou de liant. | Féminin singulier de maint. |
Where the eye mixes maigre and mainte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maigre and mainte follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses maigre with mainte
A purely visual mix-up. maigre (\mɛɡʁ\) and mainte (\mɛ̃t\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54456, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maigre is recorded at frequency rank #8,733, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛɡʁ\. mainte is at rank #45,723, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛ̃t\.
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 54456, this pair ranks #133,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maigre vs mainte
Shared letters: aeim. Private to "maigre": gr. Private to "mainte": nt.
"maigre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "mainte" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maigre" for "mainte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maigre" vs "mainte" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maigre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mainte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maigre" and "mainte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mainte vs mane". 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 #133,940 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.