Which to use
“méfient” and “mêlent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,420
- “méfient” frequency rank
- #15,945
- “mêlent” frequency rank
- 57365
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | méfient | mêlent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de méfier. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mêler. |
Where the eye mixes méfient and mêlent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. méfient runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against mêlent's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between méfient and mêlent
A purely visual mix-up. méfient (\me.fi\) and mêlent (\mɛl\) 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 57365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
méfient is recorded at frequency rank #41,420, classified as averb, pronounced \me.fi\. mêlent is at rank #15,945, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛl\.
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 57365, this pair ranks #115,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of méfient vs mêlent
Shared letters: emnt. Private to "méfient": fié. Private to "mêlent": lê.
"méfient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "mêlent" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "méfient" and "mêlent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "méfient" vs "mêlent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "méfient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #115,466 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "méfient" and "mêlent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "méfiante vs méfient". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #115,466 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.