Which to use
“progrès” and “proies” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,442
- “progrès” frequency rank
- #21,121
- “proies” frequency rank
- 23563
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | progrès | proies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mouvement en avant de la civilisation, en général ou dans un de ses domaines particuliers. | Pluriel de proie. |
Where the eye mixes progrès and proies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. progrès runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against proies's 6 (CCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between progrès and proies
A purely visual mix-up. progrès (\pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ\) and proies (\pʁwa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
progrès is recorded at frequency rank #2,442, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ\. proies is at rank #21,121, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁwa\.
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 23563, this pair ranks #351,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of progrès vs proies
Shared letters: oprs. Private to "progrès": gè. Private to "proies": ei.
"progrès" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "proies" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- proies ← pories · pproies · prioes · proeis · proiess · proise · prroies · rpoies
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "progrès" for "proies" ever safe?
Which is more common, "progrès" or "proies"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "progrès" and "proies" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "progrès" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "proies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #351,770 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "progrès" and "proies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "priée vs proies". 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 #351,770 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.