Which to use
“mêlées” and “molles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,210
- “mêlées” frequency rank
- #26,445
- “molles” frequency rank
- 60655
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlées | molles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de mêlé. | Féminin pluriel de mou. |
Where the eye mixes mêlées and molles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. mêlées (CVCVVC) and molles (CVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses mêlées with molles
A purely visual mix-up. mêlées (\mɛ.le\) and molles (\mɔl\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60655, 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\. molles is at rank #26,445, tagged as anadj, 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 60655, this pair ranks #96,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mêlées vs molles
Shared letters: elms. Private to "mêlées": éê. Private to "molles": o.
"mêlées" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "molles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- molles ← mloles · mmolles · molels · moles · molless · mollse · omlles
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mêlées" for "molles" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mêlées" vs "molles" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "molles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #96,495 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlées" and "molles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "malles vs mêlées". 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 #96,495 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.