Which to use
“conteurs” is an adjective and “contour” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,195
- “conteurs” frequency rank
- #16,845
- “contour” frequency rank
- 57040
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | conteurs | contour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de conteur. | Limite externe de la surface d’un corps, surtout en parlant des objets arrondis. |
Where the eye mixes conteurs and contour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. conteurs runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCC) against contour's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: conteurs vs contour
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: conteurs is \kɔ̃.tœʁ\ while contour is \kɔ̃.tuʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57040, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
conteurs is recorded at frequency rank #40,195, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.tœʁ\. contour is at rank #16,845, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.tuʁ\.
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 57040, this pair ranks #117,386 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of conteurs vs contour
Shared letters: cnortu. Private to "conteurs": es. Private to "contour": -.
"conteurs" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "contour" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "conteurs" and "contour" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "conteurs" or "contour"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "conteurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #117,386 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "conteurs" and "contour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conteurs vs convers". 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 #117,386 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.