Which to use
“merdique” and “modique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,005
- “merdique” frequency rank
- #26,444
- “modique” frequency rank
- 39449
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | merdique | modique |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est de mauvaise qualité. | Qui est peu considérable pécuniairement ; de peu de valeur. |
Where the eye mixes merdique and modique
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. merdique runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVV) against modique's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses merdique with modique
A purely visual mix-up. merdique (\mɛʁ.dik\) and modique (\mɔ.dik\) 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 39449, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
merdique is recorded at frequency rank #13,005, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɛʁ.dik\. modique is at rank #26,444, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.dik\.
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 39449, this pair ranks #247,885 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of merdique vs modique
Shared letters: deimqu. Private to "merdique": r. Private to "modique": o.
"merdique" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV · "modique" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "merdique" and "modique" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "merdique" or "modique" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "merdique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,885 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "merdique" and "modique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mélodique vs modique". 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 #247,885 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.