Which to use
“degré” and “dure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,871
- “degré” frequency rank
- #1,912
- “dure” frequency rank
- 4783
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | degré | dure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espace compris entre deux marches d’un escalier. | Femme pleine de dureté, insensible ou très sévère. |
Where the eye mixes degré and dure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between degré and dure
A purely visual mix-up. degré (\də.ɡʁe\) and dure (\dyʁ\) 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 4783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
degré is recorded at frequency rank #2,871, classified as anoun, pronounced \də.ɡʁe\. dure is at rank #1,912, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dyʁ\.
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 4783, this pair ranks #430,712 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of degré vs dure
Shared letters: der. Private to "degré": gé. Private to "dure": u.
"degré" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- dure ← ddure · drue · duer · durre · udre
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "degré" and "dure" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "degré" or "dure" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "degré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #430,712 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "degré" and "dure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs degré". 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 #430,712 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.