samouraïsvsSamuraiConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,302
“samouraïs” frequency rank
#43,136
“Samurai” frequency rank
77438
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature samouraïs Samurai
Definition Pluriel de samouraï. Samouraï.

Where the eye mixes samouraïs and Samurai

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. samouraïs runs 9 letters (CVCVVCVCC) against Samurai's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
samouraïs
7 ch
Samurai

Look-alike desk: samouraïs vs Samurai

A purely visual mix-up. samouraïs (\sa.mu.ʁaj\) and Samurai (\zamuˈʁaɪ̯\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

samouraïs is recorded at frequency rank #34,302, classified as anoun, pronounced \sa.mu.ʁaj\. Samurai is at rank #43,136, tagged as anoun, pronounced \zamuˈʁaɪ̯\.

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 77438, this pair ranks #28,366 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of samouraïs vs Samurai

Shared letters: amrsu. Private to "samouraïs": . Private to "Samurai": i.

"samouraïs" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCC  ·  "Samurai" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Samuraiasmurai · sammurai · samruai · samuari · samuria · samurrai · saumrai · smaurai

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "samouraïs" and "Samurai" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\sa.mu.ʁaj\ versus \zamuˈʁaɪ̯\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "samouraïs" vs "Samurai" - which ranks higher?
"samouraïs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,302 in our French list, against #43,136 for "Samurai". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "samouraïs" and "Samurai" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "samouraïs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Samurai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,366 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "samouraïs" and "Samurai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Samira vs Samurai". 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 #28,366 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