cesservsclasserTell them apart

Which to use

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

#5,219
“cesser” frequency rank
#10,470
“classer” frequency rank
15689
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cesser classer
Definition Discontinuer ; arrêter ; finir ; interrompre ; terminer. Ranger, distribuer par classes. Ranger des éléments suivant des critères ou des caractères communs.

Where the eye mixes cesser and classer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cesser
7 ch
classer

Look-alike desk: cesser vs classer

A purely visual mix-up. cesser (\se.se\) and classer (\klɑ.se\) 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 15689, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cesser is recorded at frequency rank #5,219, classified as averb, pronounced \se.se\. classer is at rank #10,470, tagged as averb, pronounced \klɑ.se\.

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 15689, this pair ranks #391,260 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cesser vs classer

Shared letters: cers. Private to "cesser": -. Private to "classer": al.

"cesser" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "classer" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cesserccesser · ceser · cesesr · cesserr · cessre · cseser · ecsser
  • classercalsser · cclasser · claser · clasesr · classerr · classre · cllasser · clsaser

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cesser" and "classer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\se.se\ versus \klɑ.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cesser" vs "classer" - which ranks higher?
"cesser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,219 in our French list, against #10,470 for "classer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cesser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "classer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #391,260 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cesser" and "classer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casseur vs classer". 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 #391,260 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