Which to use
“péril” and “perse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,489
- “péril” frequency rank
- #12,017
- “perse” frequency rank
- 19506
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | péril | perse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Danger, risque, état où il y a quelque chose de fâcheux à craindre. | Langue parlée dans la Perse antique. |
Where the eye mixes péril and perse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: péril vs perse
A purely visual mix-up. péril (\pe.ʁil\) and perse (\pɛʁs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
péril is recorded at frequency rank #7,489, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.ʁil\. perse is at rank #12,017, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁs\.
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 19506, this pair ranks #372,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of péril vs perse
Shared letters: pr. Private to "péril": ilé. Private to "perse": es.
"péril" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "perse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- perse ← eprse · perrse · persse · pperse · prese
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "péril" and "perse" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "péril" vs "perse" - 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 "péril" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "perse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #372,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "péril" and "perse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perse vs peso". 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 #372,936 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.