Which to use
“périr” is a verb and “puéril” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,204
- “périr” frequency rank
- #29,494
- “puéril” frequency rank
- 56698
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | périr | puéril |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prendre fin ; cesser d’être. | Qui appartient à l’enfance. |
Where the eye mixes périr and puéril
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. périr runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against puéril's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between périr and puéril
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: périr is \pe.ʁiʁ\ while puéril is \pɥe.ʁil\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
périr is recorded at frequency rank #27,204, classified as averb, pronounced \pe.ʁiʁ\. 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 56698, this pair ranks #119,468 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of périr vs puéril
Shared letters: ipré. Private to "périr": -. Private to "puéril": lu.
"périr" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "puéril" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "périr" for "puéril" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "périr" or "puéril" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "périr" 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 #119,468 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "périr" and "puéril" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "puéril vs purin". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #119,468 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.