Which to use
“maisonnette” and “marionnette” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,562
- “maisonnette” frequency rank
- #17,763
- “marionnette” frequency rank
- 62325
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maisonnette | marionnette |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Maison basse et petite. | Figurine que l’on fait bouger avec la main ou par des fils, quelquefois par des ressorts. |
Where the eye mixes maisonnette and marionnette
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses maisonnette with marionnette
A purely visual mix-up. maisonnette (\mɛ.zɔ.nɛt\) and marionnette (\ma.ʁjɔ.nɛt\) 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 62325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maisonnette is recorded at frequency rank #44,562, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ.zɔ.nɛt\. marionnette is at rank #17,763, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.ʁjɔ.nɛt\.
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 62325, this pair ranks #87,727 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of maisonnette vs marionnette
Shared letters: aeimnot. Private to "maisonnette": s. Private to "marionnette": r.
"maisonnette" · 11 letters · shape CVVCVCCVCCV · "marionnette" · 11 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- maisonnette ← amisonnette · maiosnnette · maisnonette · maisonentte · maisonette · maisonnete · maisonnetet · maisonntete
- marionnette ← amrionnette · maironnette · marinonette · marionentte · marionette · marionnete · marionnetet · marionntete
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maisonnette" for "marionnette" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "maisonnette" or "marionnette" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "maisonnette" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "marionnette" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,727 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maisonnette" and "marionnette" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maisonnée vs maisonnette". 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 #87,727 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.