Which to use
“maigret” is an adjective and “maire” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,036
- “maigret” frequency rank
- #1,142
- “maire” frequency rank
- 45178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maigret | maire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Un peu trop maigre, chétif, maigrichon. | Premier officier municipal d’une commune, municipalité ou arrondissement, élu, en France, par les conseillers municipaux à l’issue des élections municipales, en Suisse, soit directement par le corps électoral (Jura), soit chaque année pour une année par le conseil municipal (Genève). |
Where the eye mixes maigret and maire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. maigret runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against maire's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses maigret with maire
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maigret is \mɛ.ɡʁɛ\ while maire is \mɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45178, 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\. maire is at rank #1,142, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\.
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 45178, this pair ranks #204,771 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maigret vs maire
Shared letters: aeimr. Private to "maigret": gt. Private to "maire": -.
"maigret" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "maire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maigret" and "maire" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "maigret" or "maire" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "maigret" and "maire" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "maigret" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #204,771 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maigret" and "maire" 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 #204,771 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.