Which to use
“mépris” is a noun and “meurs” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,964
- “mépris” frequency rank
- #7,342
- “meurs” frequency rank
- 12306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mépris | meurs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sentiment par lequel on juge une personne ou une chose indigne d’estime, d’égards, d’attention. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de mourir. |
Where the eye mixes mépris and meurs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mépris runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against meurs's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mépris and meurs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: mépris is \me.pʁi\ while meurs is \mœʁ\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mépris is recorded at frequency rank #4,964, classified as anoun, pronounced \me.pʁi\. meurs is at rank #7,342, tagged as averb, pronounced \mœʁ\.
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 12306, this pair ranks #405,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mépris vs meurs
Shared letters: mrs. Private to "mépris": ipé. Private to "meurs": eu.
"mépris" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "meurs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- meurs ← emurs · merus · meurrs · meurss · meusr · mmeurs · muers
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mépris" and "meurs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "mépris" or "meurs"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mépris" and "meurs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mépris" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "meurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,804 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mépris" and "meurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Méry vs meurs". 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 #405,804 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.