Which to use
“maxime” and “mime” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,366
- “maxime” frequency rank
- #25,045
- “mime” frequency rank
- 30411
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maxime | mime |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Proposition générale qui sert de principe, de fondement, de règle dans un art, dans une science, et particulièrement en matière de politique et de morale. Par exemple, Trajan disait « ces maximes de Zalmoxis » en parlant avec admiration à propos des enseignements du chef spirituel des Daces. | Genre théâtral dont les expressions principales sont l’attitude, le geste et la mimique. |
Where the eye mixes maxime and mime
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. maxime runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against mime's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between maxime and mime
A purely visual mix-up. maxime (\mak.sim\) and mime (\mim\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30411, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maxime is recorded at frequency rank #5,366, classified as anoun, pronounced \mak.sim\. mime is at rank #25,045, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mim\.
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 30411, this pair ranks #310,505 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maxime vs mime
Shared letters: eim. Private to "maxime": ax. Private to "mime": -.
"maxime" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "mime" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "maxime" for "mime" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "maxime" or "mime" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "maxime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mime" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,505 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "maxime" and "mime" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mime vs mito". 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 #310,505 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.