Which to use
“coureur” and “curseur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,809
- “coureur” frequency rank
- #25,272
- “curseur” frequency rank
- 35081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coureur | curseur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celui qui se livre à l’exercice de la course. | Barre de réglage de divers instruments (compas, etc.). |
Where the eye mixes coureur and curseur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. coureur (CVVCVVC) and curseur (CVCCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between coureur and curseur
A purely visual mix-up. coureur (\ku.ʁœʁ\) and curseur (\kyʁ.sœʁ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coureur is recorded at frequency rank #9,809, classified as anoun, pronounced \ku.ʁœʁ\. curseur is at rank #25,272, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kyʁ.sœʁ\.
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 35081, this pair ranks #279,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coureur vs curseur
Shared letters: ceru. Private to "coureur": o. Private to "curseur": s.
"coureur" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC · "curseur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "coureur" and "curseur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "coureur" vs "curseur" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "coureur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "curseur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #279,346 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coureur" and "curseur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "casseur vs curseur". 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 #279,346 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.