Which to use
“marier” and “méfier” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,348
- “marier” frequency rank
- #10,910
- “méfier” frequency rank
- 15258
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | marier | méfier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Unir deux personnes par le lien conjugal, selon les lois de l’État ou de la religion. | Ne pas se fier à quelqu’un, à ce qu’il dit, à ce qu’il fait paraître, parce qu’on le soupçonne de ne pas être sincère ni sûr. |
Where the eye mixes marier and méfier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: marier vs méfier
A purely visual mix-up. marier (\ma.ʁje\) and méfier (\me.fje\) 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 15258, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
marier is recorded at frequency rank #4,348, classified as averb, pronounced \ma.ʁje\. méfier is at rank #10,910, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.fje\.
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 15258, this pair ranks #393,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of marier vs méfier
Shared letters: eimr. Private to "marier": a. Private to "méfier": fé.
"marier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "méfier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- marier ← amrier · mairer · mareir · marierr · marire · marrier · mmarier · mraier
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "marier" for "méfier" ever safe?
Which is more common, "marier" or "méfier"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "marier" and "méfier" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "marier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "méfier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #393,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "marier" and "méfier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "méfier vs Meier". 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 #393,142 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.