précisémentvsprécocementConfusable pair

Which to use

“précisément” and “précocement” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,636
“précisément” frequency rank
#44,650
“précocement” frequency rank
47286
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature précisément précocement
Definition Avec précision ; exactement ; au plus juste. D’une manière précoce.

Where the eye mixes précisément and précocement

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. précisément and précocement follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

11 ch
précisément
11 ch
précocement

Why the eye confuses précisément with précocement

A purely visual mix-up. précisément (\pʁe.si.ze.mɑ̃\) and précocement (\pʁe.kɔs.mɑ̃\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

précisément is recorded at frequency rank #2,636, classified as anadv, pronounced \pʁe.si.ze.mɑ̃\. précocement is at rank #44,650, tagged as anadv, pronounced \pʁe.kɔs.mɑ̃\.

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 47286, this pair ranks #188,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of précisément vs précocement

Shared letters: cemnprté. Private to "précisément": is. Private to "précocement": o.

"précisément" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVCC  ·  "précocement" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "précisément" and "précocement" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁe.si.ze.mɑ̃\ versus \pʁe.kɔs.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "précisément" or "précocement"?
"précisément" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,636 in our French list, against #44,650 for "précocement". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "précisément" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "précocement" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #188,136 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "précisément" and "précocement" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "précieusement vs précisément". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #188,136 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list