Which to use
“molles” is an adjective and “mollesse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,445
- “molles” frequency rank
- #48,053
- “mollesse” frequency rank
- 74498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | molles | mollesse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de mou. | État de ce qui est mou. |
Where the eye mixes molles and mollesse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. molles runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against mollesse's 8 (CVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: molles vs mollesse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: molles is \mɔl\ while mollesse is \mɔ.lɛs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “molles” sits inside “mollesse”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
molles is recorded at frequency rank #26,445, classified as anadj, pronounced \mɔl\. mollesse is at rank #48,053, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mɔ.lɛs\.
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 74498, this pair ranks #36,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of molles vs mollesse
Shared letters: elmos. Private to "molles": -. Private to "mollesse": -.
"molles" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "mollesse" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "molles" and "mollesse" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "molles" or "mollesse"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "molles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mollesse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "molles" and "mollesse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mollesse vs mollets". 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 #36,979 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.