censéevscreuséeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,511
“censée” frequency rank
#28,504
“creusée” frequency rank
37015
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature censée creusée
Definition Féminin singulier de censé. Féminin singulier de creusé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set censée and creusée apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
censée
7 ch
creusée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. censée (\sɑ̃.se\) and creusée (\kʁø.ze\) 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 37015, 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\. creusée is at rank #28,504, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kʁø.ze\.

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 37015, this pair ranks #265,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of censée vs creusée

Shared letters: cesé. Private to "censée": n. Private to "creusée": ru.

"censée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "creusée" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVV

Frequency comparison

censée#8,511
creusée#28,504

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "censée" and "creusée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sɑ̃.se\ versus \kʁø.ze\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "censée" or "creusée"?
"censée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,511 in our French list, against #28,504 for "creusée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering censée vs creusée

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 “censée” 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