Which to use
“mêlé” is an adjective and “meu” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,013
- “mêlé” frequency rank
- #44,580
- “meu” frequency rank
- 57593
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlé | meu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mélangé, entremêlé, embrouillé, désordonné. | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe movoir. |
Where the eye mixes mêlé and meu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. mêlé runs 4 letters (CVCV) against meu's 3 (CVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mêlé vs meu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mêlé is \mɛ.le\ while meu is \məˈy\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57593, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mêlé is recorded at frequency rank #13,013, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛ.le\. meu is at rank #44,580, tagged as averb, pronounced \məˈy\.
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 57593, this pair ranks #114,096 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mêlé vs meu
Shared letters: m. Private to "mêlé": léê. Private to "meu": eu.
"mêlé" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "meu" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mêlé" for "meu" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mêlé" or "meu" 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 "mêlé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,096 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlé" and "meu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "meu vs MWh". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #114,096 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.