errementsvsexcrémentsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,505
“errements” frequency rank
#23,542
“excréments” frequency rank
59047
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature errements excréments
Definition Manière dont une affaire est conduite. Pluriel de excrément.

Where the eye mixes errements and excréments

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. errements runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCCC) against excréments's 10 (VCCCVCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
errements
10 ch
excréments

Why the eye confuses errements with excréments

A purely visual mix-up. errements (\ɛʁ.mɑ̃\) and excréments (\ɛks.kʁe.mɑ̃\) 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 59047, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

errements is recorded at frequency rank #35,505, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁ.mɑ̃\. excréments is at rank #23,542, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛks.kʁe.mɑ̃\.

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 59047, this pair ranks #105,364 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of errements vs excréments

Shared letters: emnrst. Private to "errements": -. Private to "excréments": cxé.

"errements" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCC  ·  "excréments" · 10 letters · shape VCCCVCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • errements ← erements · ererments · erreemnts · erremennts · erremenst · errementss · errementts · erremetns

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "errements" for "excréments" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ɛʁ.mɑ̃\ versus \ɛks.kʁe.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "errements" or "excréments"?
"excréments" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,542 in our French list, against #35,505 for "errements". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "errements" and "excréments" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "errements" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "excréments" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,364 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "errements" and "excréments" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "errements vs étirements". 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 #105,364 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