Which to use
“mérite” and “mixité” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,395
- “mérite” frequency rank
- #14,739
- “mixité” frequency rank
- 16134
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mérite | mixité |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qui rend une personne digne d’estime. | État de ce qui est mixte, en général en parlant des sexes. |
Where the eye mixes mérite and mixité
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. mérite and mixité follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: mérite vs mixité
A purely visual mix-up. mérite (\me.ʁit\) and mixité (\mik.si.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16134, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mérite is recorded at frequency rank #1,395, classified as anoun, pronounced \me.ʁit\. mixité is at rank #14,739, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mik.si.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 16134, this pair ranks #389,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mérite vs mixité
Shared letters: imté. Private to "mérite": er. Private to "mixité": x.
"mérite" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "mixité" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mérite" for "mixité" ever safe?
Frequency check: "mérite" vs "mixité" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "mérite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mixité" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mérite" and "mixité" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mixé vs mixité". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #389,224 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.