Which to use
“moue” is a noun and “muer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,453
- “moue” frequency rank
- #48,671
- “muer” frequency rank
- 78124
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | moue | muer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Grimace que l’on fait en rapprochant et en allongeant les lèvres, en signe de dérision ou de mécontentement. | Changer de poil, de plumes, de peau, etc., en parlant des animaux. |
Where the eye mixes moue and muer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. moue (CVVV) and muer (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: moue vs muer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: moue is \mu\ while muer is \mɥe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78124, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
moue is recorded at frequency rank #29,453, classified as anoun, pronounced \mu\. muer is at rank #48,671, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɥe\.
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 78124, this pair ranks #26,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of moue vs muer
Shared letters: emu. Private to "moue": o. Private to "muer": r.
"moue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "muer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "moue" and "muer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "moue" vs "muer" - which ranks higher?
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 "moue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "muer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #26,566 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "moue" and "muer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mud vs muer". 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 #26,566 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.