Which to use
“cesse” and “césure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,464
- “cesse” frequency rank
- #44,409
- “césure” frequency rank
- 46873
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cesse | césure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fin, relâche. | Coupure d’un vers. Sorte de repos qui est placé en des endroits différents selon la nature des vers. |
Where the eye mixes cesse and césure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. cesse runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against césure's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between cesse and césure
A purely visual mix-up. cesse (\sɛs\) and césure (\se.zyʁ\) 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 46873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cesse is recorded at frequency rank #2,464, classified as anoun, pronounced \sɛs\. césure is at rank #44,409, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.zyʁ\.
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 46873, this pair ranks #191,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cesse vs césure
Shared letters: ces. Private to "cesse": -. Private to "césure": rué.
"cesse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "césure" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cesse ← ccesse · ceses · csese · ecsse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cesse" for "césure" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cesse" vs "césure" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "cesse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "césure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #191,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cesse" and "césure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cese vs césure". 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 #191,372 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.