Which to use
“dour” is an adjective and “durs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,426
- “dour” frequency rank
- #6,699
- “durs” frequency rank
- 51125
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dour | durs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Austère, dur, inhospitalier. | Le bagne. |
Where the eye mixes dour and durs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dour (CVVC) and durs (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses dour with durs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dour is \ˈdʊə(ɹ)\ while durs is \dyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51125, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dour is recorded at frequency rank #44,426, classified as anadj, pronounced \ˈdʊə(ɹ)\. durs is at rank #6,699, 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 51125, this pair ranks #157,395 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dour vs durs
Shared letters: dru. Private to "dour": o. Private to "durs": s.
"dour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "durs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dour" and "durs" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "dour" or "durs" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dour" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "durs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,395 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dour" and "durs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "domi vs dour". 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 #157,395 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.