ordrevsoutréWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: ordre is a noun, outré is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ordre” is a noun and “outré” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#419
“ordre” frequency rank
#25,424
“outré” frequency rank
25843
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ordre outré
Definition Arrangement raisonné et logique, disposition régulière des choses les unes par rapport aux autres. Qui est excessif, exagéré, qui passe les bornes prescrites par la raison.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ordre and outré apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ordre
5 ch
outré

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

ordre and outré form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ordre is recorded at frequency rank #419, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔʁdʁ\. outré is at rank #25,424, tagged as anadj, pronounced \u.tʁe\.

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 25843, this pair ranks #338,553 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

ordre#419
outré#25,424

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ordre" and "outré" be used interchangeably?
No, "ordre" and "outré" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering ordre vs outré

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “ordre”; for an adjective, it's “outré”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ordre” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list