Which to use
“varié” is an adjective and “variety” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,083
- “varié” frequency rank
- #41,585
- “variety” frequency rank
- 53668
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | varié | variety |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui présente des aspects ou éléments distincts. | Variété, type, catégorie. |
Where the eye mixes varié and variety
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. varié runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against variety's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses varié with variety
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: varié is \va.ʁje\ while variety is \vəˈɹaɪ.ɪ.ti\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
varié is recorded at frequency rank #12,083, classified as anadj, pronounced \va.ʁje\. variety is at rank #41,585, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vəˈɹaɪ.ɪ.ti\.
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 53668, this pair ranks #139,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of varié vs variety
Shared letters: airv. Private to "varié": é. Private to "variety": ety.
"varié" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "variety" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- variety ← avriety · vairety · vareity · varietty · varietyy · varieyt · varitey · varriety
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "varié" for "variety" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "varié" or "variety" show up more?
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 "varié" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "variety" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #139,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "varié" and "variety" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "vanity vs variety". 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 #139,212 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.