Which to use
“cuir” and “curry” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,847
- “cuir” frequency rank
- #14,902
- “curry” frequency rank
- 19749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cuir | curry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Peau épaisse de certains animaux. | Cari, mélange d’épices réduites en poudre, très répandu dans la cuisine indienne, comprenant notamment du curcuma qui donne la couleur orangée. |
Where the eye mixes cuir and curry
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between cuir and curry
A purely visual mix-up. cuir (\kɥiʁ\) and curry (\ky.ʁi\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cuir is recorded at frequency rank #4,847, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɥiʁ\. curry is at rank #14,902, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ky.ʁi\.
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 19749, this pair ranks #371,745 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of cuir vs curry
Shared letters: cru. Private to "cuir": i. Private to "curry": y.
"cuir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "curry" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "cuir" for "curry" ever safe?
Frequency check: "cuir" vs "curry" - 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 "cuir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "curry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #371,745 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cuir" and "curry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "courra vs curry". 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 #371,745 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.