Which to use
“promise” and “propice” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,275
- “promise” frequency rank
- #10,557
- “propice” frequency rank
- 21832
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | promise | propice |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de promis. | Qui est favorable, en parlant de divinité, toute puissance, ou autorité dont nous pouvons dépendre. |
Where the eye mixes promise and propice
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. promise and propice follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: promise vs propice
A purely visual mix-up. promise (\pʁɔ.miz\) and propice (\pʁɔ.pis\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21832, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
promise is recorded at frequency rank #11,275, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.miz\. propice is at rank #10,557, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.pis\.
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 21832, this pair ranks #361,208 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of promise vs propice
Shared letters: eiopr. Private to "promise": ms. Private to "propice": c.
"promise" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "propice" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "promise" for "propice" ever safe?
Which is more common, "promise" or "propice"?
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 "promise" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "propice" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #361,208 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "promise" and "propice" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "promise vs prompte". 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 #361,208 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.