Which to use
“maires” and “maximes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,362
- “maires” frequency rank
- #42,456
- “maximes” frequency rank
- 47818
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maires | maximes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de maire. | Pluriel de maxime. |
Where the eye mixes maires and maximes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. maires runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against maximes's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between maires and maximes
A purely visual mix-up. maires (\mɛʁ\) and maximes (\mak.sim\) 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 47818, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maires is recorded at frequency rank #5,362, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\. maximes is at rank #42,456, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mak.sim\.
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 47818, this pair ranks #183,907 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maires vs maximes
Shared letters: aeims. Private to "maires": r. Private to "maximes": x.
"maires" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "maximes" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maires" and "maximes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maires" vs "maximes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "maximes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,907 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maires" and "maximes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manies vs maximes". 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 #183,907 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.