Which to use
“censée” is an adjective and “censurée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,511
- “censée” frequency rank
- #29,687
- “censurée” frequency rank
- 38198
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | censée | censurée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de censé. | Participe passé féminin singulier du verbe censurer. |
Where the eye mixes censée and censurée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. censée runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against censurée's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses censée with censurée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: censée is \sɑ̃.se\ while censurée is \sɑ̃.sy.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 38198, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
censée is recorded at frequency rank #8,511, classified as anadj, pronounced \sɑ̃.se\. censurée is at rank #29,687, tagged as averb, pronounced \sɑ̃.sy.ʁe\.
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 38198, this pair ranks #256,966 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of censée vs censurée
Shared letters: censé. Private to "censée": -. Private to "censurée": ru.
"censée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "censurée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "censée" and "censurée" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "censée" vs "censurée" - which ranks higher?
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 "censée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "censurée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #256,966 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "censée" and "censurée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "censurée vs Césarée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #256,966 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.