Which to use
“circus” and “cursus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,884
- “circus” frequency rank
- #11,027
- “cursus” frequency rank
- 42911
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | circus | cursus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom scientifique des oiseaux du genre busard. | Cycle éducatif, échelonnement graduel des matières enseignées et des diplômes. |
Where the eye mixes circus and cursus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: circus vs cursus
A purely visual mix-up. circus (\siʁ.kys\) and cursus (\kyʁ.sys\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
circus is recorded at frequency rank #31,884, classified as anoun, pronounced \siʁ.kys\. cursus is at rank #11,027, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kyʁ.sys\.
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 42911, this pair ranks #221,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of circus vs cursus
Shared letters: crsu. Private to "circus": i. Private to "cursus": -.
"circus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cursus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "circus" for "cursus" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "circus" or "cursus" show up more?
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 "circus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cursus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #221,979 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "circus" and "cursus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Circé vs circus". 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 #221,979 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.