Which to use
“mépriser” and “mériter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,405
- “mépriser” frequency rank
- #11,260
- “mériter” frequency rank
- 32665
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mépriser | mériter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Considérer quelqu’un comme indigne d’estime. | Être digne, se rendre digne de. |
Where the eye mixes mépriser and mériter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. mépriser runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against mériter's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses mépriser with mériter
A purely visual mix-up. mépriser (\me.pʁi.ze\) and mériter (\me.ʁi.te\) 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 32665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mépriser is recorded at frequency rank #21,405, classified as averb, pronounced \me.pʁi.ze\. mériter is at rank #11,260, tagged as averb, pronounced \me.ʁi.te\.
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 32665, this pair ranks #295,781 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mépriser vs mériter
Shared letters: eimré. Private to "mépriser": ps. Private to "mériter": t.
"mépriser" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "mériter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mépriser" for "mériter" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "mépriser" or "mériter" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mépriser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mériter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,781 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mépriser" and "mériter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mépriser vs méprisés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #295,781 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.