méfier vs métiers, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“méfier” is a verb and “métiers” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#10,910
“méfier” frequency rank: #3,414
“métiers” frequency rank: 14324
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	méfier	métiers
Definition	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.	Pluriel de métier.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set méfier and métiers apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

méfier

7 ch

métiers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: méfier is \me.fje\ while métiers is \me.tje\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14324, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

méfier is recorded at frequency rank #10,910, classified as averb, pronounced \me.fje\. métiers is at rank #3,414, tagged as anoun, pronounced \me.tje\.

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 14324, this pair ranks #397,185 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of méfier vs métiers

Shared letters: eimré. Private to "méfier": f. Private to "métiers": st.

"méfier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "métiers" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC

Frequency comparison

méfier#10,910

métiers#3,414

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "méfier" and "métiers" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "méfier" is a verb and "métiers" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "méfier" or "métiers"?

"métiers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,414 in our French list, against #10,910 for "méfier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering méfier vs métiers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “méfier”; for a noun, it's “métiers”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “méfier” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable