Which to use
“noires” and “notoires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,167
- “noires” frequency rank
- #32,503
- “notoires” frequency rank
- 36670
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | noires | notoires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de noir. | Pluriel de notoire. |
Where the eye mixes noires and notoires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. noires runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against notoires's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: noires vs notoires
A purely visual mix-up. noires (\nwaʁ\) and notoires (\nɔ.twaʁ\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36670, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
noires is recorded at frequency rank #4,167, classified as anadj, pronounced \nwaʁ\. notoires is at rank #32,503, tagged as anadj, pronounced \nɔ.twaʁ\.
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 36670, this pair ranks #267,977 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of noires vs notoires
Shared letters: einors. Private to "noires": -. Private to "notoires": t.
"noires" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "notoires" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "noires" and "notoires" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "noires" or "notoires" show up more?
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 "noires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "notoires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #267,977 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "noires" and "notoires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noires vs noués". 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 #267,977 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.