Which to use
“mêlée” and “mole” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,703
- “mêlée” frequency rank
- #38,923
- “mole” frequency rank
- 48626
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlée | mole |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Combat opiniâtre, où deux troupes s’attaquent corps-à-corps et se mêlent. | Unité de mesure de quantité de matière du Système international, dont le symbole est mol. Une mole contient autant de particules individuelles qu’il y a d’atomes dans 12 grammes de carbone 12 ; ce nombre est appelé nombre d’Avogadro, et est de l’ordre de 6,022×10²³. |
Where the eye mixes mêlée and mole
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mêlée runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against mole's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mêlée vs mole
A purely visual mix-up. mêlée (\me.le\) and mole (\mɔl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48626, 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\. mole is at rank #38,923, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔl\.
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 48626, this pair ranks #177,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mêlée vs mole
Shared letters: elm. Private to "mêlée": éê. Private to "mole": o.
"mêlée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "mole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mole ← mloe · mmole · moel · omle
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mêlée" and "mole" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mêlée" vs "mole" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "mêlée" and "mole" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlée" and "mole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moire vs mole". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #177,358 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.