Which to use
“maquillé” and “mouillé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,485
- “maquillé” frequency rank
- #12,622
- “mouillé” frequency rank
- 49107
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maquillé | mouillé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui porte un maquillage. | Qui est imbibé ou recouvert de gouttes de liquide, généralement de l’eau ; humide. |
Where the eye mixes maquillé and mouillé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. maquillé runs 8 letters (CVCVVCCV) against mouillé's 7 (CVVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses maquillé with mouillé
A purely visual mix-up. maquillé (\ma.ki.je\) and mouillé (\mu.je\) 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 49107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maquillé is recorded at frequency rank #36,485, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.ki.je\. mouillé is at rank #12,622, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mu.je\.
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 49107, this pair ranks #173,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maquillé vs mouillé
Shared letters: ilmué. Private to "maquillé": aq. Private to "mouillé": o.
"maquillé" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "mouillé" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maquillé" and "mouillé" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "maquillé" or "mouillé"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maquillé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mouillé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #173,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maquillé" and "mouillé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "magouille vs maquillé". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #173,438 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.