maigrirvsmigrerTell them apart

Which to use

“maigrir” and “migrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,674
“maigrir” frequency rank
#27,128
“migrer” frequency rank
42802
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maigrir migrer
Definition Devenir maigre. Passer d’un pays dans un autre pour s’y établir.

Where the eye mixes maigrir and migrer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
maigrir
6 ch
migrer

Why the eye confuses maigrir with migrer

A purely visual mix-up. maigrir (\mɛ.ɡʁiʁ\) and migrer (\mi.ɡʁe\) 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 42802, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maigrir is recorded at frequency rank #15,674, classified as averb, pronounced \mɛ.ɡʁiʁ\. migrer is at rank #27,128, tagged as averb, pronounced \mi.ɡʁe\.

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 42802, this pair ranks #222,841 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maigrir vs migrer

Shared letters: gimr. Private to "maigrir": a. Private to "migrer": e.

"maigrir" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC  ·  "migrer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maigriramigrir · magirir · maiggrir · maigirr · maigrirr · maigrri · maigrrir · mairgir
  • migrerimgrer · mgirer · migerr · miggrer · migrerr · migrre · migrrer · mirger

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maigrir" and "migrer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɛ.ɡʁiʁ\ versus \mi.ɡʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maigrir" or "migrer"?
"maigrir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,674 in our French list, against #27,128 for "migrer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "maigrir" and "migrer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "maigrir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "migrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #222,841 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "maigrir" and "migrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "magret vs migrer". 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 #222,841 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list