Which to use
“obscène” and “obscure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #27,155
- “obscène” frequency rank
- #16,429
- “obscure” frequency rank
- 43584
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obscène | obscure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui blesse ouvertement, qui heurte la décence, la pudeur ou le bon goût. | Féminin singulier de obscur. |
Where the eye mixes obscène and obscure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. obscène and obscure follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between obscène and obscure
A purely visual mix-up. obscène (\ɔp.sɛn\) and obscure (\ɔp.skyʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43584, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obscène is recorded at frequency rank #27,155, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔp.sɛn\. obscure is at rank #16,429, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɔp.skyʁ\.
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 43584, this pair ranks #216,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obscène vs obscure
Shared letters: bceos. Private to "obscène": nè. Private to "obscure": ru.
"obscène" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "obscure" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- obscure ← boscure · obbscure · obcsure · obsccure · obscrue · obscuer · obscurre · obsscure
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "obscène" and "obscure" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "obscène" vs "obscure" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "obscène" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obscure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,959 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obscène" and "obscure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obscène vs obscénité". 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 #216,959 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.