censeursvscensureWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#38,194
“censeurs” frequency rank
#5,218
“censure” frequency rank
43412
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature censeurs censure
Definition Pluriel de censeur. 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 censeurs and censure

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
censeurs
7 ch
censure

Visual trap between censeurs and censure

A purely visual mix-up. censeurs (\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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43412, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

censeurs is recorded at frequency rank #38,194, 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 43412, this pair ranks #218,256 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of censeurs vs censure

Shared letters: cenrsu. Private to "censeurs": -. Private to "censure": -.

"censeurs" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC  ·  "censure" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • censeursccenseurs · cenesurs · cennseurs · censerus · censeurrs · censeurss · censeusr · censseurs
  • censureccensure · cennsure · censrue · censsure · censuer · censurre · cenusre · cesnure

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "censeurs" and "censure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\sɑ̃.sœʁ\ versus \sɑ̃.syʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "censeurs" or "censure"?
"censure" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,218 in our French list, against #38,194 for "censeurs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "censeurs" 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 #218,256 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "censeurs" and "censure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "censeurs vs centers". 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 #218,256 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list