Which to use
“mêlés” is an adjective and “mendès” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,299
- “mêlés” frequency rank
- #34,185
- “mendès” frequency rank
- 58484
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mêlés | mendès |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de mêlé. | Verre de lait consommé dans un bistro |
Where the eye mixes mêlés and mendès
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. mêlés runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against mendès's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mêlés and mendès
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mêlés is \me.le\ while mendès is \mɛ̃.dɛs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mêlés is recorded at frequency rank #24,299, classified as anadj, pronounced \me.le\. mendès is at rank #34,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃.dɛs\.
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 58484, this pair ranks #108,802 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of mêlés vs mendès
Shared letters: ms. Private to "mêlés": léê. Private to "mendès": denè.
"mêlés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "mendès" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mêlés" and "mendès" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "mêlés" vs "mendès" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mêlés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mendès" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,802 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mêlés" and "mendès" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manies vs mendès". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #108,802 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.