cecvscocuWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“cec” and “cocu” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,636
“cec” frequency rank
#25,931
“cocu” frequency rank
72567
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cec cocu
Definition Aveugle. Dupé, trompé, victime d’infidélité conjugale.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cec and cocu apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
cec
4 ch
cocu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cec (\ˈsek\) and cocu (\kɔ.ky\) 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 72567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cec is recorded at frequency rank #46,636, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈsek\. cocu is at rank #25,931, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.ky\.

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 72567, this pair ranks #43,549 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cec vs cocu

Shared letters: c. Private to "cec": e. Private to "cocu": ou.

"cec" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "cocu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cocuccocu · ccou · coccu · couc · occu

Frequency comparison

cec#46,636
cocu#25,931

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cec" and "cocu" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈsek\ versus \kɔ.ky\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cec" or "cocu"?
"cocu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,931 in our French list, against #46,636 for "cec". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cec vs cocu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cec” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list