Which to use
“mime” and “mode” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,045
- “mime” frequency rank
- #585
- “mode” frequency rank
- 25630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mime | mode |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genre théâtral dont les expressions principales sont l’attitude, le geste et la mimique. | Manière de voir ou d’agir ; fantaisie. |
Where the eye mixes mime and mode
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses mime with mode
A purely visual mix-up. mime (\mim\) and mode (\mɔd\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mime is recorded at frequency rank #25,045, classified as anoun, pronounced \mim\. mode is at rank #585, 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 25630, this pair ranks #339,750 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mime vs mode
Shared letters: em. Private to "mime": i. Private to "mode": do.
"mime" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "mode" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "mime" for "mode" ever safe?
Which is more common, "mime" or "mode"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "mime" and "mode" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "mime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mode" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #339,750 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mime" and "mode" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mime vs mito". 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 #339,750 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.