Which to use
“mêlée” and “mères” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,703
- “mêlée” frequency rank
- #4,253
- “mères” frequency rank
- 13956
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlée | mères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Combat opiniâtre, où deux troupes s’attaquent corps-à-corps et se mêlent. | Pluriel de mère. |
Where the eye mixes mêlée and mères
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mêlée with mères
A purely visual mix-up. mêlée (\me.le\) and mères (\mɛʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13956, 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\. mères is at rank #4,253, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁ\.
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 13956, this pair ranks #398,805 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mêlée vs mères
Shared letters: em. Private to "mêlée": léê. Private to "mères": rsè.
"mêlée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "mères" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mêlée" for "mères" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mêlée" vs "mères" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
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 "mères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,805 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlée" and "mères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Meier vs mêlée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #398,805 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.