Which to use
“core” is a noun and “Cyr” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #16,102
- “core” frequency rank
- #12,760
- “Cyr” frequency rank
- 28862
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | core | Cyr |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Centre, noyau. | Nom de famille. |
Where the eye mixes core and Cyr
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: core vs Cyr
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: core is \kɔː\ while Cyr is \siʁ\. 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 (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
core is recorded at frequency rank #16,102, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔː\. Cyr is at rank #12,760, tagged as aname, pronounced \siʁ\.
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 28862, this pair ranks #320,206 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of core vs Cyr
Shared letters: cr. Private to "core": eo. Private to "Cyr": y.
"core" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "Cyr" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- core ← ccore · coer · corre · croe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "core" for "Cyr" ever safe?
Which is more common, "core" or "Cyr"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "core" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Cyr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #320,206 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "core" and "Cyr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conde vs core". 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 #320,206 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.