Which to use
“mêlée” is a noun and “mêlées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,703
- “mêlée” frequency rank
- #34,210
- “mêlées” frequency rank
- 43913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlée | mêlées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Combat opiniâtre, où deux troupes s’attaquent corps-à-corps et se mêlent. | Féminin pluriel de mêlé. |
Where the eye mixes mêlée and mêlées
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mêlée runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against mêlées's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mêlée with mêlées
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mêlée is \me.le\ while mêlées is \mɛ.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “mêlée” sits inside “mêlées”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mêlée is recorded at frequency rank #9,703, classified as anoun, pronounced \me.le\. mêlées is at rank #34,210, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɛ.le\.
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 43913, this pair ranks #214,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mêlée vs mêlées
Shared letters: elméê. Private to "mêlée": -. Private to "mêlées": s.
"mêlée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "mêlées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mêlée" and "mêlées" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mêlée" vs "mêlées" - 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 "mêlée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #214,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlée" and "mêlées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malles vs mêlées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #214,402 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.