Which to use
“creuses” and “curieuses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,684
- “creuses” frequency rank
- #33,632
- “curieuses” frequency rank
- 54316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | creuses | curieuses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de creux. | Féminin pluriel de curieux. |
Where the eye mixes creuses and curieuses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. creuses runs 7 letters (CCVVCVC) against curieuses's 9 (CVCVVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses creuses with curieuses
A purely visual mix-up. creuses (\kʁøz\) and curieuses (\ky.ʁjøz\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
creuses is recorded at frequency rank #20,684, classified as anadj, pronounced \kʁøz\. curieuses is at rank #33,632, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ky.ʁjøz\.
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 54316, this pair ranks #134,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of creuses vs curieuses
Shared letters: cersu. Private to "creuses": -. Private to "curieuses": i.
"creuses" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC · "curieuses" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "creuses" and "curieuses" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "creuses" or "curieuses"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "creuses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "curieuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,847 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "creuses" and "curieuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "creuses vs crosses". 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 #134,847 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.