Which to use
“bloc” and “blocus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,609
- “bloc” frequency rank
- #11,182
- “blocus” frequency rank
- 13791
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bloc | blocus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masse, gros morceau d’une matière pesante et dure, telle que la pierre, le marbre, le fer non encore travaillés. | Siège d’une ville, d’un port, d’une position, d’un pays pour lui couper toute communication avec l’extérieur. |
Where the eye mixes bloc and blocus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses bloc with blocus
A purely visual mix-up. bloc (\blɔk\) and blocus (\blɔ.kys\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “bloc” sits inside “blocus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13791, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bloc is recorded at frequency rank #2,609, classified as anoun, pronounced \blɔk\. blocus is at rank #11,182, tagged as anoun, pronounced \blɔ.kys\.
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 13791, this pair ranks #399,519 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bloc vs blocus
Shared letters: bclo. Private to "bloc": -. Private to "blocus": su.
"bloc" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "blocus" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bloc" for "blocus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bloc" vs "blocus" - which ranks higher?
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 "bloc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "blocus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,519 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bloc" and "blocus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "blocus vs bloques". 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 #399,519 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.