Which to use
“mêlée” is a noun and “mêlez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,703
- “mêlée” frequency rank
- #38,936
- “mêlez” frequency rank
- 48639
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlée | mêlez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Combat opiniâtre, où deux troupes s’attaquent corps-à-corps et se mêlent. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de mêler. |
Where the eye mixes mêlée and mêlez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mêlée (CVCVV) and mêlez (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: mêlée vs mêlez
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mêlée is \me.le\ while mêlez is \mɛ.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48639, 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\. mêlez is at rank #38,936, tagged as averb, 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 48639, this pair ranks #177,244 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mêlée vs mêlez
Shared letters: elmê. Private to "mêlée": é. Private to "mêlez": z.
"mêlée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "mêlez" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mêlée" and "mêlez" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mêlée" vs "mêlez" - 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 "mêlée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,244 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlée" and "mêlez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs mêlez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #177,244 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.