Which to use
“cancers” and “centers” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,650
- “cancers” frequency rank
- #47,779
- “centers” frequency rank
- 58429
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cancers | centers |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de cancer. | Pluriel de center. |
Where the eye mixes cancers and centers
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. cancers and centers follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: cancers vs centers
A purely visual mix-up. cancers (\kɑ̃.sɛʁ\) and centers (\ˈsɛn.ɚz\) 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 58429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cancers is recorded at frequency rank #10,650, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɑ̃.sɛʁ\. centers is at rank #47,779, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈsɛn.ɚz\.
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 58429, this pair ranks #109,131 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of cancers vs centers
Shared letters: cenrs. Private to "cancers": a. Private to "centers": t.
"cancers" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "centers" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cancers" for "centers" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cancers" or "centers"?
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 "cancers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "centers" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #109,131 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cancers" and "centers" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "centers vs convers". 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 #109,131 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.