Which to use
“censé” is an adjective and “cesser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,595
- “censé” frequency rank
- #5,219
- “cesser” frequency rank
- 8814
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | censé | cesser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Supposé, réputé, considéré (comme). | Discontinuer ; arrêter ; finir ; interrompre ; terminer. |
Where the eye mixes censé and cesser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses censé with cesser
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: censé is \sɑ̃.se\ while cesser is \se.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
censé is recorded at frequency rank #3,595, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\. cesser is at rank #5,219, tagged as averb, pronounced \se.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 8814, this pair ranks #418,753 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of censé vs cesser
Shared letters: ces. Private to "censé": né. Private to "cesser": r.
"censé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "cesser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- cesser ← ccesser · ceser · cesesr · cesserr · cessre · cseser · ecsser
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "censé" and "cesser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "censé" vs "cesser" - 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 "censé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cesser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,753 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "censé" and "cesser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casseur vs cesser". 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 #418,753 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.