Which to use
“minus” and “modus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,073
- “minus” frequency rank
- #34,195
- “modus” frequency rank
- 66268
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | minus | modus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Individu aux capacités intellectuelles limitées. | Mode. |
Where the eye mixes minus and modus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between minus and modus
A purely visual mix-up. minus (\mi.nys\) and modus (\mɔ.dys\) 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 66268, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
minus is recorded at frequency rank #32,073, classified as anoun, pronounced \mi.nys\. modus is at rank #34,195, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.dys\.
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 66268, this pair ranks #68,544 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of minus vs modus
Shared letters: msu. Private to "minus": in. Private to "modus": do.
"minus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "modus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "minus" for "modus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "minus" vs "modus" - which ranks higher?
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 "minus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "modus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,544 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "minus" and "modus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modus vs mordue". 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 #68,544 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.