Which to use
“ouvrier” is an adjective and “ouvrière” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,685
- “ouvrier” frequency rank
- #8,280
- “ouvrière” frequency rank
- 13965
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ouvrier | ouvrière |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui travaille, œuvrant. | Celle qui, moyennant salaire, effectue un travail généralement manuel pour un employeur dans les domaines du bâtiment, de l’industrie ou de l’agriculture. |
Where the eye mixes ouvrier and ouvrière
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. ouvrier runs 7 letters (VVCCVVC) against ouvrière's 8 (VVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ouvrier vs ouvrière
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ouvrier is \u.vʁi.je\ while ouvrière is \u.vʁi.jɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ouvrier is recorded at frequency rank #5,685, classified as anadj, pronounced \u.vʁi.je\. ouvrière is at rank #8,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced \u.vʁi.jɛʁ\.
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 13965, this pair ranks #398,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ouvrier vs ouvrière
Shared letters: eioruv. Private to "ouvrier": -. Private to "ouvrière": è.
"ouvrier" · 7 letters · shape VVCCVVC · "ouvrière" · 8 letters · shape VVCCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ouvrier ← ourvier · ouvirer · ouvreir · ouvrierr · ouvrire · ouvrrier · ouvvrier · ovurier
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ouvrier" for "ouvrière" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ouvrier" vs "ouvrière" - which ranks higher?
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 "ouvrier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ouvrière" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,776 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ouvrier" and "ouvrière" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oeuvrer vs ouvrier". 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 #398,776 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.