Which to use
“causse” and “cesse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,174
- “causse” frequency rank
- #2,464
- “cesse” frequency rank
- 43638
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | causse | cesse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom donné dans le Massif Central à de hauts plateaux calcaires nus et arides. | Fin, relâche. |
Where the eye mixes causse and cesse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. causse runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against cesse's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses causse with cesse
A purely visual mix-up. causse (\kos\) and cesse (\sɛs\) 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 43638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
causse is recorded at frequency rank #41,174, classified as anoun, pronounced \kos\. cesse is at rank #2,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɛs\.
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 43638, this pair ranks #216,530 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of causse vs cesse
Shared letters: ces. Private to "causse": au. Private to "cesse": -.
"causse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "cesse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "causse" for "cesse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "causse" vs "cesse" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "causse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cesse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,530 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "causse" and "cesse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "causse vs causses". 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 #216,530 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.