Which to use
“cendré” and “censée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,832
- “cendré” frequency rank
- #8,511
- “censée” frequency rank
- 52343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cendré | censée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est de la couleur de la cendre. | Féminin singulier de censé. |
Where the eye mixes cendré and censée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: cendré vs censée
A purely visual mix-up. cendré (\sɑ̃.dʁe\) and censée (\sɑ̃.se\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cendré is recorded at frequency rank #43,832, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.dʁe\. censée is at rank #8,511, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\.
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 52343, this pair ranks #148,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cendré vs censée
Shared letters: cené. Private to "cendré": dr. Private to "censée": s.
"cendré" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "censée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cendré" for "censée" ever safe?
Which is more common, "cendré" or "censée"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "cendré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "censée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #148,392 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cendré" and "censée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cendré vs conde". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #148,392 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.