Which to use
“maire” is a noun and “molaire” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,142
- “maire” frequency rank
- #37,429
- “molaire” frequency rank
- 38571
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maire | molaire |
|---|---|---|
| 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). | Relatif à la mole. |
Where the eye mixes maire and molaire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. maire runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against molaire's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: maire vs molaire
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maire is \mɛʁ\ while molaire is \mɔ.lɛʁ\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38571, 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\. molaire is at rank #37,429, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.lɛʁ\.
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 38571, this pair ranks #254,361 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maire vs molaire
Shared letters: aeimr. Private to "maire": -. Private to "molaire": lo.
"maire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "molaire" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maire" and "molaire" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "maire" or "molaire"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "molaire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,361 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maire" and "molaire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moire vs molaire". 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 #254,361 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.