Which to use
“circus” is a noun and “Cyrus” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,884
- “circus” frequency rank
- #12,547
- “Cyrus” frequency rank
- 44431
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | circus | Cyrus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom scientifique des oiseaux du genre busard. | Nom de famille. |
Letter map: circus vs Cyrus
Shared letters muted; letters that set circus and Cyrus apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Grammar separator: circus vs Cyrus
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: circus is anoun and Cyrusaname. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44431, 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\. Cyrus is at rank #12,547, tagged as aname.
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 44431, this pair ranks #210,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of circus vs Cyrus
Shared letters: crsu. Private to "circus": i. Private to "Cyrus": y.
"circus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Cyrus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "circus" for "Cyrus" ever safe?
Frequency check: "circus" vs "Cyrus" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "circus" vs "Cyrus" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "circus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Cyrus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,529 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "circus" and "Cyrus" 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 #210,529 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.