Which to use
“précaire” is an adjective and “précarité” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,030
- “précaire” frequency rank
- #11,111
- “précarité” frequency rank
- 23141
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | précaire | précarité |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui ne s’exerce que par une tolérance qui peut cesser, par une permission révocable. | Caractère de ce qui est précaire. |
Where the eye mixes précaire and précarité
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. précaire runs 8 letters (CCVCVVCV) against précarité's 9 (CCVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: précaire vs précarité
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: précaire is \pʁe.kɛʁ\ while précarité is \pʁe.ka.ʁi.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
précaire is recorded at frequency rank #12,030, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.kɛʁ\. précarité is at rank #11,111, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.ka.ʁi.te\.
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 23141, this pair ranks #354,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of précaire vs précarité
Shared letters: acipré. Private to "précaire": e. Private to "précarité": t.
"précaire" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVCV · "précarité" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "précaire" for "précarité" ever safe?
Which is more common, "précaire" or "précarité"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "précaire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "précarité" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #354,137 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "précaire" and "précarité" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "précaire vs prétoire". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #354,137 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.