Which to use
“pourrir” is a verb and “pourris” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,871
- “pourrir” frequency rank
- #13,034
- “pourris” frequency rank
- 26905
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pourrir | pourris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se décomposer, fermenter, s'altérer, se corrompre, se gâter sous l’action de bactéries. | Masculin pluriel de pourri. |
Where the eye mixes pourrir and pourris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pourrir and pourris
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pourrir is \pu.ʁiʁ\ while pourris is \pu.ʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “pourrir” becomes s in “pourris”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pourrir is recorded at frequency rank #13,871, classified as averb, pronounced \pu.ʁiʁ\. pourris is at rank #13,034, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pu.ʁi\.
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 26905, this pair ranks #332,134 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pourrir vs pourris
Shared letters: iopru. Private to "pourrir": -. Private to "pourris": s.
"pourrir" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "pourris" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pourrir" and "pourris" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pourrir" vs "pourris" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pourrir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pourris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #332,134 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pourrir" and "pourris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Polaris vs pourris". 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 #332,134 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.