CSSvscupConfusable pair

Which to use

“CSS” and “cup” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,705
“CSS” frequency rank
#8,225
“cup” frequency rank
26930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature CSS cup
Definition Séquence d’instructions de rendu visuel, auditif ou tactile d’une ressource HTML ou XML. Cup menstruelle.

Where the eye mixes CSS and cup

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
CSS
3 ch
cup

Visual trap between CSS and cup

A purely visual mix-up. CSS (\se ɛ.s‿ɛs\) and cup (\kœp\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

CSS is recorded at frequency rank #18,705, classified as anoun, pronounced \se ɛ.s‿ɛs\. cup is at rank #8,225, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kœp\.

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 26930, this pair ranks #331,974 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of CSS vs cup

Shared letters: c. Private to "CSS": s. Private to "cup": pu.

"CSS" · 3 letters · shape CCC  ·  "cup" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "CSS" and "cup" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\se ɛ.s‿ɛs\ versus \kœp\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "CSS" or "cup"?
"cup" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,225 in our French list, against #18,705 for "CSS". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "CSS" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cup" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #331,974 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "CSS" and "cup" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "CCE vs CSS". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #331,974 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list