Which to use
“passeur” and “priseur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,222
- “passeur” frequency rank
- #46,369
- “priseur” frequency rank
- 63591
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | passeur | priseur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celui qui conduit un bac, un bateau pour passer l’eau. | Celui qui a l’habitude de priser du tabac. |
Where the eye mixes passeur and priseur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. passeur (CVCCVVC) and priseur (CCVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses passeur with priseur
A purely visual mix-up. passeur (\pa.sœʁ\) and priseur (\pʁi.zœʁ\) 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 63591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
passeur is recorded at frequency rank #17,222, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.sœʁ\. priseur is at rank #46,369, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁi.zœʁ\.
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 63591, this pair ranks #81,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of passeur vs priseur
Shared letters: eprsu. Private to "passeur": a. Private to "priseur": i.
"passeur" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "priseur" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "passeur" and "priseur" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "passeur" vs "priseur" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "passeur" and "priseur" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "passeur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "priseur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "passeur" and "priseur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "primeurs vs priseur". 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 #81,215 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.