Which to use
“périls” is a noun and “puéril” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,002
- “périls” frequency rank
- #29,494
- “puéril” frequency rank
- 53496
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | périls | puéril |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de péril. | Qui appartient à l’enfance. |
Where the eye mixes périls and puéril
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. périls (CVCVCC) and puéril (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: périls vs puéril
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: périls is \pe.ʁil\ while puéril is \pɥe.ʁil\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53496, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
périls is recorded at frequency rank #24,002, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.ʁil\. puéril is at rank #29,494, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɥe.ʁil\.
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 53496, this pair ranks #140,325 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of périls vs puéril
Shared letters: ilpré. Private to "périls": s. Private to "puéril": u.
"périls" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "puéril" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "périls" and "puéril" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "périls" or "puéril"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "périls" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "puéril" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #140,325 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "périls" and "puéril" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puéril vs purin". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #140,325 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.