Which to use
“smile” and “smith” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,233
- “smile” frequency rank
- #4,286
- “smith” frequency rank
- 31519
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | smile | smith |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sourire. | Forgeron. |
Letter map: smile vs smith
Shared letters muted; letters that set smile and smith apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.
Corpus notes: smile and smith
smile and smith are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31519, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
smile is recorded at frequency rank #27,233, classified as anoun. smith is at rank #4,286, tagged as anoun, pronounced \smɪθ\.
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 31519, this pair ranks #303,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of smile vs smith
Shared letters: ims. Private to "smile": el. Private to "smith": ht.
"smile" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "smith" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "smile" for "smith" ever safe?
Frequency check: "smile" vs "smith" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "smile" and "smith". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "smile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "smith" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,306 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "smile" and "smith" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seille vs smile". 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 #303,306 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.