Which to use
“censeur” and “censure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,203
- “censeur” frequency rank
- #5,218
- “censure” frequency rank
- 44421
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | censeur | censure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Magistrat romain chargé d’établir le cens, c’est-à-dire le recensement des citoyens, le contrôle de l’état de leur fortune, et la légitimité de leur appartenance à telle ou telle classe (sénatoriale ou équestre). | Examen qu’un gouvernement fait faire des livres, des journaux, des pièces de théâtre, etc., avant d’en permettre la publication ou la représentation. |
Where the eye mixes censeur and censure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. censeur (CVCCVVC) and censure (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between censeur and censure
A purely visual mix-up. censeur (\sɑ̃.sœʁ\) and censure (\sɑ̃.syʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they are an anagram pair: the same letters reordered. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44421, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
censeur is recorded at frequency rank #39,203, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃.sœʁ\. censure is at rank #5,218, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɑ̃.syʁ\.
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 44421, this pair ranks #210,606 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of censeur vs censure
Shared letters: cenrsu. Private to "censeur": -. Private to "censure": -.
"censeur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "censure" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "censeur" and "censure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "censeur" or "censure"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "censeur" and "censure" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "censeur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "censure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,606 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "censeur" and "censure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casseur vs censeur". 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 #210,606 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.