Which to use
“péril” is a noun and “pétri” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,489
- “péril” frequency rank
- #40,945
- “pétri” frequency rank
- 48434
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | péril | pétri |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Danger, risque, état où il y a quelque chose de fâcheux à craindre. | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe pétrir. |
Where the eye mixes péril and pétri
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. péril (CVCVC) and pétri (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between péril and pétri
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: péril is \pe.ʁil\ while pétri is \pe.tʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48434, 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\. pétri is at rank #40,945, tagged as averb, pronounced \pe.tʁi\.
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 48434, this pair ranks #178,970 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of péril vs pétri
Shared letters: ipré. Private to "péril": l. Private to "pétri": t.
"péril" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pétri" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "péril" and "pétri" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "péril" or "pétri"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "péril" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pétri" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,970 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "péril" and "pétri" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pètes vs pétri". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #178,970 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.