Which to use
“termes” and “tories” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,425
- “termes” frequency rank
- #48,834
- “tories” frequency rank
- 50259
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | termes | tories |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de terme. | Pluriel de tory. |
Where the eye mixes termes and tories
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between termes and tories
A purely visual mix-up. termes (\tɛʁm\) and tories (\tɔ.ʁi\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50259, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
termes is recorded at frequency rank #1,425, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛʁm\. tories is at rank #48,834, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔ.ʁi\.
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 50259, this pair ranks #164,074 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of termes vs tories
Shared letters: erst. Private to "termes": m. Private to "tories": io.
"termes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "tories" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "termes" for "tories" ever safe?
Which is more common, "termes" or "tories"?
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 "termes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tories" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #164,074 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "termes" and "tories" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tories vs trips". 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 #164,074 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.