Which to use
“maire” and “manie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,142
- “maire” frequency rank
- #14,311
- “manie” frequency rank
- 15453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maire | manie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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). | État d’exaltation extrême de l’humeur avec agitation psychomotrice, associé à des symptômes physiques comme la tachycardie, l’hyperthermie et des modifications de l’appétit. |
Where the eye mixes maire and manie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maire (CVVCV) and manie (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses maire with manie
A purely visual mix-up. maire (\mɛʁ\) and manie (\ma.ni\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maire is recorded at frequency rank #1,142, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. manie is at rank #14,311, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.ni\.
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 15453, this pair ranks #392,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maire vs manie
Shared letters: aeim. Private to "maire": r. Private to "manie": n.
"maire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "manie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maire" for "manie" ever safe?
Frequency check: "maire" vs "manie" - 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 "maire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "manie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maire" and "manie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maid vs manie". 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 #392,304 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.