Which to use
“précaire” is an adjective and “prescrire” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,030
- “précaire” frequency rank
- #15,463
- “prescrire” frequency rank
- 27493
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | précaire | prescrire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui ne s’exerce que par une tolérance qui peut cesser, par une permission révocable. | Ordonner, recommander ou marquer précisément ce qu’on veut qui soit fait. |
Where the eye mixes précaire and prescrire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. précaire runs 8 letters (CCVCVVCV) against prescrire's 9 (CCVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: précaire vs prescrire
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: précaire is \pʁe.kɛʁ\ while prescrire is \pʁɛs.kʁiʁ\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27493, 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\. prescrire is at rank #15,463, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɛs.kʁiʁ\.
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 27493, this pair ranks #328,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of précaire vs prescrire
Shared letters: ceipr. Private to "précaire": aé. Private to "prescrire": s.
"précaire" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVVCV · "prescrire" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prescrire ← perscrire · pprescrire · precsrire · presccrire · prescirre · prescrier · prescrirre · prescrrie
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "précaire" and "prescrire" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "précaire" or "prescrire" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "prescrire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #328,613 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "précaire" and "prescrire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "précaire vs prétoire". 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 #328,613 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.