Which to use
“moire” and “moue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,051
- “moire” frequency rank
- #29,453
- “moue” frequency rank
- 77504
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moire | moue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Apprêt que reçoivent, par un calandrage spécifique, certaines étoffes de soie, de laine, de coton ou de lin, et qui leur communique un éclat changeant, une apparence ondée et chatoyante. | Grimace que l’on fait en rapprochant et en allongeant les lèvres, en signe de dérision ou de mécontentement. |
Where the eye mixes moire and moue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. moire runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against moue's 4 (CVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: moire vs moue
A purely visual mix-up. moire (\mwaʁ\) and moue (\mu\) 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 77504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moire is recorded at frequency rank #48,051, classified as anoun, pronounced \mwaʁ\. moue is at rank #29,453, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mu\.
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 77504, this pair ranks #28,177 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of moire vs moue
Shared letters: emo. Private to "moire": ir. Private to "moue": u.
"moire" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "moue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "moire" and "moue" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "moire" vs "moue" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "moire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #28,177 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moire" and "moue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moire vs moisie". 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 #28,177 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.