Which to use
“moquer” is a verb and “moue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,351
- “moquer” frequency rank
- #29,453
- “moue” frequency rank
- 38804
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moquer | moue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se railler de quelqu’un ou de quelque chose, en rire, en faire un sujet de plaisanterie ou de dérision. | Grimace que l’on fait en rapprochant et en allongeant les lèvres, en signe de dérision ou de mécontentement. |
Where the eye mixes moquer and moue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses moquer with moue
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: moquer is \mɔ.ke\ while moue is \mu\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38804, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moquer is recorded at frequency rank #9,351, classified as averb, pronounced \mɔ.ke\. 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 38804, this pair ranks #252,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of moquer vs moue
Shared letters: emou. Private to "moquer": qr. Private to "moue": -.
"moquer" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "moue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "moquer" and "moue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "moquer" or "moue"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "moquer" 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 #252,675 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moquer" and "moue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moue vs mud". 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 #252,675 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.