Which to use
“stèle” and “step” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,139
- “stèle” frequency rank
- #17,826
- “step” frequency rank
- 42965
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stèle | step |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Monument monolithe ayant la forme d’un fût de colonne, d’un obélisque, d’une dalle dressée et sculptée ou peinte, qui sert le plus souvent à marquer l’emplacement d’une sépulture. | Accessoire de mise en forme, de fitness, ressemblant à une marche sur laquelle on monte et on descend. |
Where the eye mixes stèle and step
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between stèle and step
A purely visual mix-up. stèle (\stɛl\) and step (\stɛp\) 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 42965, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
stèle is recorded at frequency rank #25,139, classified as anoun, pronounced \stɛl\. step is at rank #17,826, tagged as anoun, pronounced \stɛp\.
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 42965, this pair ranks #221,620 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stèle vs step
Shared letters: est. Private to "stèle": lè. Private to "step": p.
"stèle" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "step" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- step ← sstep · stepp · stpe · sttep · tsep
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "stèle" and "step" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "stèle" or "step"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "stèle" and "step" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "stèle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "step" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #221,620 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stèle" and "step" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stase vs stèle". 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 #221,620 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.