Which to use
“maris” and “mépris” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,002
- “maris” frequency rank
- #4,964
- “mépris” frequency rank
- 17966
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maris | mépris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de mari. | Sentiment par lequel on juge une personne ou une chose indigne d’estime, d’égards, d’attention. |
Where the eye mixes maris and mépris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maris runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against mépris's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses maris with mépris
A purely visual mix-up. maris (\ma.ʁi\) and mépris (\me.pʁi\) 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 17966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maris is recorded at frequency rank #13,002, classified as anoun, pronounced \ma.ʁi\. mépris is at rank #4,964, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.pʁi\.
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 17966, this pair ranks #380,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of maris vs mépris
Shared letters: imrs. Private to "maris": a. Private to "mépris": pé.
"maris" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mépris" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- maris ← amris · mairs · mariss · marris · marsi · mmaris · mrais
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maris" and "mépris" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "maris" vs "mépris" - which ranks higher?
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 "maris" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mépris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #380,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maris" and "mépris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "maid vs maris". 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 #380,624 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.