Which to use
“servile” and “stérile” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,186
- “servile” frequency rank
- #13,697
- “stérile” frequency rank
- 57883
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | servile | stérile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui appartient à l’état d’esclave, de domestique. | Qui ne peut pas se reproduire, infécond. |
Where the eye mixes servile and stérile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. servile (CVCCVCV) and stérile (CCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses servile with stérile
A purely visual mix-up. servile (\sɛʁ.vil\) and stérile (\ste.ʁil\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57883, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
servile is recorded at frequency rank #44,186, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɛʁ.vil\. stérile is at rank #13,697, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ste.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 57883, this pair ranks #112,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of servile vs stérile
Shared letters: eilrs. Private to "servile": v. Private to "stérile": té.
"servile" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "stérile" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- servile ← esrvile · serivle · serrvile · serviel · serville · servlie · servvile · sevrile
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "servile" for "stérile" ever safe?
Frequency check: "servile" vs "stérile" - which ranks higher?
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 "servile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "stérile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #112,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "servile" and "stérile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "servage vs servile". 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 #112,372 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.