modérésvsmodestesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,817
“modérés” frequency rank
#9,348
“modestes” frequency rank
22165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature modérés modestes
Definition Masculin pluriel de modéré. Pluriel de modeste.

Where the eye mixes modérés and modestes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
modérés
8 ch
modestes

Why the eye confuses modérés with modestes

A purely visual mix-up. modérés (\mɔ.de.ʁe\) and modestes (\mɔ.dɛst\) 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 22165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

modérés is recorded at frequency rank #12,817, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.de.ʁe\. modestes is at rank #9,348, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mɔ.dɛst\.

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 22165, this pair ranks #359,520 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of modérés vs modestes

Shared letters: dmos. Private to "modérés": . Private to "modestes": et.

"modérés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "modestes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • modestesmdoestes · mmodestes · moddestes · modesets · modesstes · modestess · modestse · modesttes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "modérés" and "modestes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\mɔ.de.ʁe\ versus \mɔ.dɛst\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "modérés" vs "modestes" - which ranks higher?
"modestes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,348 in our French list, against #12,817 for "modérés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "modérés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "modestes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #359,520 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "modérés" and "modestes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Modène vs modérés". 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 #359,520 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