mobilevsmouilléWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“mobile” and “mouillé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,089
“mobile” frequency rank
#12,622
“mouillé” frequency rank
14711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mobile mouillé
Definition Qui se meut ou qui peut être mû ; qui n’est pas fixe. Qui est imbibé ou recouvert de gouttes de liquide, généralement de l’eau ; humide.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set mobile and mouillé apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
mobile
7 ch
mouillé

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. mobile (\mɔ.bil\) and mouillé (\mu.je\) 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 14711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mobile is recorded at frequency rank #2,089, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.bil\. mouillé is at rank #12,622, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mu.je\.

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 14711, this pair ranks #395,517 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mobile vs mouillé

Shared letters: ilmo. Private to "mobile": be. Private to "mouillé": .

"mobile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "mouillé" · 7 letters · shape CVVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mobilemboile · mmobile · mobbile · mobiel · mobille · moblie · moible · ombile

Frequency comparison

mobile#2,089
mouillé#12,622

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mobile" and "mouillé" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɔ.bil\ versus \mu.je\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mobile" or "mouillé"?
"mobile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,089 in our French list, against #12,622 for "mouillé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering mobile vs mouillé

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “mobile” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list