Which to use
“paresse” is a noun and “paresseux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,622
- “paresse” frequency rank
- #15,201
- “paresseux” frequency rank
- 34823
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paresse | paresseux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tendance à éviter toute activité, à refuser tout effort consenti par les autres lambdas, disposition habituelle à ne pas travailler, nonchalance, négligence des choses qui sont de devoir, d’obligation. | Qui est enclin à éviter l’action, le travail, l’effort, à ne pas se donner de peine. |
Where the eye mixes paresse and paresseux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. paresse runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against paresseux's 9 (CVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: paresse vs paresseux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: paresse is \pa.ʁɛs\ while paresseux is \pa.ʁɛ.sø\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “paresse” sits inside “paresseux”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34823, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paresse is recorded at frequency rank #19,622, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.ʁɛs\. paresseux is at rank #15,201, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pa.ʁɛ.sø\.
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 34823, this pair ranks #281,080 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of paresse vs paresseux
Shared letters: aeprs. Private to "paresse": -. Private to "paresseux": ux.
"paresse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "paresseux" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "paresse" and "paresseux" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "paresse" vs "paresseux" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "paresse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "paresseux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #281,080 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paresse" and "paresseux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paresse vs poreuse". 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 #281,080 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.