Which to use
“nu” and “nus” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,697
- “nu” frequency rank
- #7,091
- “nus” frequency rank
- 10788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nu | nus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui n’a pas de vêtements, qui est dévêtu. | Masculin pluriel de nu. |
Same sound, different letters: nu vs nus
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - nu / nus
This is the hard kind. nu and nus are pronounced identically (\ny\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “nu” sits inside “nus”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nu is recorded at frequency rank #3,697, classified as anadj, pronounced \ny\. nus is at rank #7,091, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ny\.
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 10788, this pair ranks #411,652 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of nu vs nus
Shared letters: nu. Private to "nu": -. Private to "nus": s.
"nu" · 2 letters · shape CV · "nus" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nu" for "nus" ever safe?
Which is more common, "nu" or "nus"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "nu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #411,652 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nu" and "nus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "noués vs nus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #411,652 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.