Which to use
“mature” is an adjective and “mètre” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,039
- “mature” frequency rank
- #6,113
- “mètre” frequency rank
- 15152
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mature | mètre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mûr, qui fait preuve de maturité (morale et psychologique). | Unité de mesure de longueur du Système international, dont le symbole est m. Le mètre est défini de manière universelle depuis 1983 par la longueur du trajet parcouru par la lumière dans le vide en 1/299 792 458 de seconde. |
Where the eye mixes mature and mètre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between mature and mètre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mature is \ma.tyʁ\ while mètre is \mɛtʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15152, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mature is recorded at frequency rank #9,039, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.tyʁ\. mètre is at rank #6,113, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛtʁ\.
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 15152, this pair ranks #393,628 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mature vs mètre
Shared letters: emrt. Private to "mature": au. Private to "mètre": è.
"mature" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "mètre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mature ← amture · matrue · matture · matuer · maturre · mautre · mmature · mtaure
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mature" and "mètre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mature" vs "mètre" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mature" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mètre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #393,628 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mature" and "mètre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mature vs Maura". 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 #393,628 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.