obsédésvsobsèquesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#30,284
“obsédés” frequency rank
#13,222
“obsèques” frequency rank
43506
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obsédés obsèques
Definition Pluriel de obsédé. Convoi funèbre ayant plus ou moins un caractère de solennité.

Where the eye mixes obsédés and obsèques

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. obsédés runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against obsèques's 8 (VCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
obsédés
8 ch
obsèques

Why the eye confuses obsédés with obsèques

A purely visual mix-up. obsédés (\ɔb.se.de\) and obsèques (\ɔp.sɛk\) 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 43506, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obsédés is recorded at frequency rank #30,284, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔb.se.de\. obsèques is at rank #13,222, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔp.sɛk\.

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 43506, this pair ranks #217,548 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obsédés vs obsèques

Shared letters: bos. Private to "obsédés": dé. Private to "obsèques": equè.

"obsédés" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "obsèques" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "obsédés" and "obsèques" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɔb.se.de\ versus \ɔp.sɛk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "obsédés" or "obsèques"?
"obsèques" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,222 in our French list, against #30,284 for "obsédés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "obsédés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obsèques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #217,548 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obsédés" and "obsèques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obsède vs obsédés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #217,548 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