Which to use
“merdes” and “modes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,359
- “merdes” frequency rank
- #4,588
- “modes” frequency rank
- 14947
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merdes | modes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de merde. | Ensemble de parure que l’on rajoute à un vêtement, dentelles, plumes, etc. colifichet. Autrefois, l‘apanage des modistes. |
Where the eye mixes merdes and modes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses merdes with modes
A purely visual mix-up. merdes (\mɛʁd\) and modes (\mɔd\) 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 14947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merdes is recorded at frequency rank #10,359, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛʁd\. modes is at rank #4,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔd\.
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 14947, this pair ranks #394,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of merdes vs modes
Shared letters: dems. Private to "merdes": r. Private to "modes": o.
"merdes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "modes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "merdes" and "modes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "merdes" vs "modes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "merdes" and "modes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "merdes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merdes" and "modes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mercis vs merdes". 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 #394,529 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.