Which to use
“malin” is an adjective and “maline” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,152
- “malin” frequency rank
- #46,280
- “maline” frequency rank
- 51432
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malin | maline |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Porté à nuire, à faire du mal à autrui. | Grandes marées qui ont lieu à la nouvelle et à la pleine lune, et dont les plus considérables arrivent aux équinoxes. On l’emploie surtout au pluriel. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set malin and maline apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: malin is \ma.lɛ̃\ while maline is \ma.lin\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “malin” sits inside “maline”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51432, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malin is recorded at frequency rank #5,152, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.lɛ̃\. maline is at rank #46,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ma.lin\.
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 51432, this pair ranks #155,040 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of malin vs maline
Shared letters: ailmn. Private to "malin": -. Private to "maline": e.
"malin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "maline" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "malin" and "maline" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "malin" or "maline"?
Remembering malin vs maline
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “malin”; for a noun, it's “maline”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “malin” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable