Which to use
“maigret” is an adjective and “maigrir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,036
- “maigret” frequency rank
- #15,674
- “maigrir” frequency rank
- 59710
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maigret | maigrir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Un peu trop maigre, chétif, maigrichon. | Devenir maigre. |
Where the eye mixes maigret and maigrir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. maigret and maigrir follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: maigret vs maigrir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maigret is \mɛ.ɡʁɛ\ while maigrir is \mɛ.ɡʁiʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59710, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maigret is recorded at frequency rank #44,036, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛ.ɡʁɛ\. maigrir is at rank #15,674, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ.ɡʁiʁ\.
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 59710, this pair ranks #101,616 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maigret vs maigrir
Shared letters: agimr. Private to "maigret": et. Private to "maigrir": -.
"maigret" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "maigrir" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maigret" for "maigrir" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "maigret" or "maigrir" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maigret" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maigrir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,616 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maigret" and "maigrir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "magret vs maigret". 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 #101,616 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.