Which to use
“obscure” and “obscures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,429
- “obscure” frequency rank
- #18,547
- “obscures” frequency rank
- 34976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obscure | obscures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de obscur. | Féminin pluriel de obscur. |
Letter map: obscure vs obscures
Shared letters muted; letters that set obscure and obscures apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. obscure runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against obscures's 8 (VCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Corpus notes: obscure and obscures
obscure and obscures are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “obscure” sits inside “obscures”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obscure is recorded at frequency rank #16,429, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔp.skyʁ\. obscures is at rank #18,547, tagged as anadj.
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 34976, this pair ranks #280,048 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obscure vs obscures
Shared letters: bceorsu. Private to "obscure": -. Private to "obscures": -.
"obscure" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "obscures" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "obscure" for "obscures" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "obscure" or "obscures" show up more?
What to do next
Pair "obscure" vs "obscures" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "obscure" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "obscures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #280,048 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obscure" and "obscures" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obscènes vs obscures". 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 #280,048 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.