Which to use
“paye” and “psy” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,028
- “paye” frequency rank
- #6,544
- “psy” frequency rank
- 9572
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paye | psy |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Salaire ou rémunération d’un travail. | Psychologue, psychiatre, psychothérapeute ou psychanalyste (la plupart du temps sans que soit faite la distinction entre les uns et les autres). |
Where the eye mixes paye and psy
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses paye with psy
A purely visual mix-up. paye (\pɛj\) and psy (\psi\) 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 9572, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paye is recorded at frequency rank #3,028, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛj\. psy is at rank #6,544, tagged as anoun, pronounced \psi\.
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 9572, this pair ranks #416,177 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of paye vs psy
Shared letters: py. Private to "paye": ae. Private to "psy": s.
"paye" · 4 letters · shape CVVV · "psy" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- paye ← apye · paey · payye · ppaye · pyae
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "paye" and "psy" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "paye" or "psy"?
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 "paye" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "psy" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,177 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paye" and "psy" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs psy". 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 #416,177 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.