Which to use
“arcs” and “ass” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,519
- “arcs” frequency rank
- #16,298
- “ass” frequency rank
- 28817
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | arcs | ass |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de arc. | Âne. |
Where the eye mixes arcs and ass
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: arcs vs ass
A purely visual mix-up. arcs (\aʁk\) and ass (\æs\) 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 28817, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
arcs is recorded at frequency rank #12,519, classified as anoun, pronounced \aʁk\. ass is at rank #16,298, tagged as anoun, pronounced \æs\.
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 28817, this pair ranks #320,510 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of arcs vs ass
Shared letters: as. Private to "arcs": cr. Private to "ass": -.
"arcs" · 4 letters · shape VCCC · "ass" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- arcs ← acrs · arccs · arcss · arrcs · arsc · racs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "arcs" for "ass" ever safe?
Frequency check: "arcs" vs "ass" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "arcs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ass" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,510 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "arcs" and "ass" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ass vs aves". 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 #320,510 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.