Which to use
“mêlées” and “mêlés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,210
- “mêlées” frequency rank
- #24,299
- “mêlés” frequency rank
- 58509
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlées | mêlés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de mêlé. | Masculin pluriel de mêlé. |
Where the eye mixes mêlées and mêlés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. mêlées runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against mêlés's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mêlées and mêlés
A purely visual mix-up. mêlées (\mɛ.le\) and mêlés (\me.le\) 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 58509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mêlées is recorded at frequency rank #34,210, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛ.le\. mêlés is at rank #24,299, tagged as anadj, pronounced \me.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 58509, this pair ranks #108,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mêlées vs mêlés
Shared letters: lmséê. Private to "mêlées": e. Private to "mêlés": -.
"mêlées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "mêlés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "mêlées" and "mêlés" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "mêlées" vs "mêlés" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,641 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlées" and "mêlés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malles vs mêlées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #108,641 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.