Which to use
“pègre” is a noun and “Phèdre” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,988
- “pègre” frequency rank
- #37,478
- “Phèdre” frequency rank
- 79466
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pègre | Phèdre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Catégorie des gens sans aveu qui vivent de friponnerie ou d’escroquerie. | Fille de Minos et de Pasiphaé, épouse de Thésée. |
Where the eye mixes pègre and Phèdre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pègre runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against Phèdre's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pègre with Phèdre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pègre is \pɛɡʁ\ while Phèdre is \fɛdʁ\. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79466, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pègre is recorded at frequency rank #41,988, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛɡʁ\. Phèdre is at rank #37,478, tagged as aname, pronounced \fɛdʁ\.
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 79466, this pair ranks #23,226 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pègre vs Phèdre
Shared letters: eprè. Private to "pègre": g. Private to "Phèdre": dh.
"pègre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "Phèdre" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pègre" and "Phèdre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pègre" vs "Phèdre" - 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 "pègre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Phèdre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #23,226 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pègre" and "Phèdre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pègre vs Perl". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #23,226 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.