Which to use
“stèle” is a noun and “stérile” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,139
- “stèle” frequency rank
- #13,697
- “stérile” frequency rank
- 38836
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | stèle | stérile |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Qui ne peut pas se reproduire, infécond. |
Where the eye mixes stèle and stérile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. stèle runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against stérile's 7 (CCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: stèle vs stérile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: stèle is \stɛl\ while stérile is \ste.ʁil\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38836, 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\. 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 38836, this pair ranks #252,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of stèle vs stérile
Shared letters: elst. Private to "stèle": è. Private to "stérile": iré.
"stèle" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "stérile" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "stèle" for "stérile" ever safe?
Frequency check: "stèle" vs "stérile" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "stèle" 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 #252,452 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "stèle" and "stérile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "stase vs stèle". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #252,452 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.