Which to use
“scar” and “sour” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,439
- “scar” frequency rank
- #35,736
- “sour” frequency rank
- 82175
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | scar | sour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Cicatrice, balafre. | Égout. |
Where the eye mixes scar and sour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. scar (CCVC) and sour (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: scar vs sour
A purely visual mix-up. scar (\skɑː(ɹ)\) and sour (\suʁ\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
scar is recorded at frequency rank #46,439, classified as anoun, pronounced \skɑː(ɹ)\. sour is at rank #35,736, tagged as anoun, pronounced \suʁ\.
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 82175, this pair ranks #17,253 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of scar vs sour
Shared letters: rs. Private to "scar": ac. Private to "sour": ou.
"scar" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "sour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "scar" and "sour" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "scar" or "sour"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "scar" and "sour" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "scar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #17,253 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "scar" and "sour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scar vs sicav". 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 #17,253 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.