modérévsmodesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#9,044
“modéré” frequency rank
#4,588
“modes” frequency rank
13632
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modéré modes
Definition Partisan de positions politiques non extrémistes. Ensemble de parure que l’on rajoute à un vêtement, dentelles, plumes, etc. colifichet. Autrefois, l‘apanage des modistes.

Where the eye mixes modéré and modes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. modéré runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against modes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
modéré
5 ch
modes

Why the eye confuses modéré with modes

A purely visual mix-up. modéré (\mɔ.de.ʁe\) and modes (\mɔd\) 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 13632, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modéré is recorded at frequency rank #9,044, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.de.ʁe\. modes is at rank #4,588, 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 13632, this pair ranks #400,208 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of modéré vs modes

Shared letters: dmo. Private to "modéré": . Private to "modes": es.

"modéré" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "modes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modesmdoes · mmodes · moddes · modess · modse · moeds · omdes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "modéré" and "modes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɔ.de.ʁe\ versus \mɔd\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "modéré" vs "modes" - which ranks higher?
"modes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,588 in our French list, against #9,044 for "modéré". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "modéré" and "modes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modéré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #400,208 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modéré" and "modes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "modéré vs moire". 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 #400,208 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list