Which to use
“ténue” and “têtu” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,245
- “ténue” frequency rank
- #23,059
- “têtu” frequency rank
- 71304
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ténue | têtu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de ténu. | Opiniâtre, obstiné, qui ne veut pas démordre de son idée, opinion, ou volonté. |
Where the eye mixes ténue and têtu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. ténue runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against têtu's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ténue with têtu
A purely visual mix-up. ténue (\te.ny\) and têtu (\tɛ.ty\) 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 71304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ténue is recorded at frequency rank #48,245, classified as anadj, pronounced \te.ny\. têtu is at rank #23,059, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɛ.ty\.
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 71304, this pair ranks #48,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ténue vs têtu
Shared letters: tu. Private to "ténue": ené. Private to "têtu": ê.
"ténue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "têtu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ténue" and "têtu" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ténue" or "têtu"?
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 "ténue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "têtu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #48,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ténue" and "têtu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tender vs ténue". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #48,035 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.