exorcismevsexorcisteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,288
“exorcisme” frequency rank
#35,938
“exorciste” frequency rank
75226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exorcisme exorciste
Definition Pratique religieuse ou magique, comportant certaines formules, certaines prières et certains gestes rituels, destinée à chasser le démon d’un endroit qu’il occupe : du corps d’un possédé, d’une chose, d’un lieu. Prêtre à qui l’Église donne le droit d’exorciser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set exorcisme and exorciste apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
exorcisme
9 ch
exorciste

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. exorcisme (\ɛɡ.zɔʁ.sism\) and exorciste (\ɛɡ.zɔʁ.sist\) 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 a single letter - m in “exorcisme” becomes t in “exorciste”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exorcisme is recorded at frequency rank #39,288, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zɔʁ.sism\. exorciste is at rank #35,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zɔʁ.sist\.

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 75226, this pair ranks #34,717 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of exorcisme vs exorciste

Shared letters: ceiorsx. Private to "exorcisme": m. Private to "exorciste": t.

"exorcisme" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV  ·  "exorciste" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exorcismeeoxrcisme · exocrisme · exorccisme · exorcimse · exorcisem · exorcismme · exorcissme · exorcsime
  • exorcisteeoxrciste · exocriste · exorcciste · exorciset · exorcisste · exorcistte · exorcitse · exorcsite

Frequency comparison

exorcisme#39,288
exorciste#35,938

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exorcisme" and "exorciste" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡ.zɔʁ.sism\ versus \ɛɡ.zɔʁ.sist\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "exorcisme" or "exorciste"?
"exorciste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,938 in our French list, against #39,288 for "exorcisme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering exorcisme vs exorciste

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “exorcisme” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list