Which to use
“maigre” and “maîtres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,733
- “maigre” frequency rank
- #4,083
- “maîtres” frequency rank
- 12816
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maigre | maîtres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui contient peu ou pas de graisse ou de liant. | Masculin pluriel de maître. |
Where the eye mixes maigre and maîtres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maigre runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against maîtres's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between maigre and maîtres
A purely visual mix-up. maigre (\mɛɡʁ\) and maîtres (\mɛtʁ\) 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 12816, 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\. maîtres is at rank #4,083, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛtʁ\.
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 12816, this pair ranks #403,627 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maigre vs maîtres
Shared letters: aemr. Private to "maigre": gi. Private to "maîtres": stî.
"maigre" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "maîtres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- maigre ← amigre · magire · maiger · maiggre · maigrre · mairge · miagre · mmaigre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maigre" and "maîtres" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maigre" vs "maîtres" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maigre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maîtres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,627 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maigre" and "maîtres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "magret vs maigre". 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 #403,627 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.