nègresvsneutresWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“nègres” and “neutres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#16,195
“nègres” frequency rank
#14,100
“neutres” frequency rank
30295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature nègres neutres
Definition Pluriel de nègre. Pluriel de neutre.

Where the eye mixes nègres and neutres

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. nègres runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against neutres's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
nègres
7 ch
neutres

Visual trap between nègres and neutres

A purely visual mix-up. nègres (\nɛɡʁ\) and neutres (\nøtʁ\) 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 30295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

nègres is recorded at frequency rank #16,195, classified as anadj, pronounced \nɛɡʁ\. neutres is at rank #14,100, tagged as anadj, pronounced \nøtʁ\.

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 30295, this pair ranks #311,309 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of nègres vs neutres

Shared letters: enrs. Private to "nègres": gè. Private to "neutres": tu.

"nègres" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "neutres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • neutres ← enutres · netures · neurtes · neuters · neutress · neutrres · neutrse · neuttres

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "nègres" and "neutres" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\nɛɡʁ\ versus \nøtʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "nègres" vs "neutres" - which ranks higher?
"neutres" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,100 in our French list, against #16,195 for "nègres". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "nègres" and "neutres" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "nègres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "neutres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #311,309 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "nègres" and "neutres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nègres vs négros". 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 #311,309 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list