maladiesvsmélodiesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,630
“maladies” frequency rank
#15,690
“mélodies” frequency rank
18320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maladies mélodies
Definition Pluriel de maladie. Pluriel de mélodie.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maladies and mélodies apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
maladies
8 ch
mélodies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. maladies (\ma.la.di\) and mélodies (\me.lɔ.di\) 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 18320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maladies is recorded at frequency rank #2,630, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.la.di\. mélodies is at rank #15,690, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.lɔ.di\.

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 18320, this pair ranks #378,920 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of maladies vs mélodies

Shared letters: deilms. Private to "maladies": a. Private to "mélodies": .

"maladies" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "mélodies" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maladiesamladies · maaldies · maladdies · maladeis · maladiess · maladise · malaides · maldaies

Frequency comparison

maladies#2,630
mélodies#15,690

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maladies" and "mélodies" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ma.la.di\ versus \me.lɔ.di\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "maladies" or "mélodies"?
"maladies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,630 in our French list, against #15,690 for "mélodies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maladies vs mélodies

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maladies” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list