Which to use
“maigret” is an adjective and “maître” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,036
- “maigret” frequency rank
- #946
- “maître” frequency rank
- 44982
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maigret | maître |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Un peu trop maigre, chétif, maigrichon. | Personne qui exerce son autorité. |
Where the eye mixes maigret and maître
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maigret runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against maître's 6 (CVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between maigret and maître
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maigret is \mɛ.ɡʁɛ\ while maître is \mɛtʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 44982, 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\. maître is at rank #946, tagged as anoun, 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 44982, this pair ranks #206,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maigret vs maître
Shared letters: aemrt. Private to "maigret": gi. Private to "maître": î.
"maigret" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "maître" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- maigret ← amigret · magiret · maigert · maiggret · maigrett · maigrret · maigrte · mairget
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maigret" for "maître" ever safe?
Which is more common, "maigret" or "maître"?
What to do next
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 "maître" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #206,314 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maigret" and "maître" 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 #206,314 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.