Which to use
“moite” is an adjective and “mottes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,376
- “moite” frequency rank
- #47,469
- “mottes” frequency rank
- 87845
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moite | mottes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a quelque humidité, qui est un peu mouillé. Se dit surtout de la peau rendue humide par la sueur. | Pluriel de motte. |
Where the eye mixes moite and mottes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses moite with mottes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: moite is \mwat\ while mottes is \mɔt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 87845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moite is recorded at frequency rank #40,376, classified as anadj, pronounced \mwat\. mottes is at rank #47,469, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔt\.
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 87845, this pair ranks #7,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of moite vs mottes
Shared letters: emot. Private to "moite": i. Private to "mottes": s.
"moite" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "mottes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "moite" and "mottes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "moite" or "mottes"?
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 "moite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mottes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #7,726 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moite" and "mottes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mottes vs muettes". 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 #7,726 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.