scoresvssiresTell them apart

Which to use

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

#11,851
“scores” frequency rank
#48,797
“sires” frequency rank
60648
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature scores sires
Definition Pluriel de score. Pluriel de sire.

Where the eye mixes scores and sires

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. scores runs 6 letters (CCVCVC) against sires's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
scores
5 ch
sires

Look-alike desk: scores vs sires

A purely visual mix-up. scores (\skɔʁ\) and sires (\siʁ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60648, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

scores is recorded at frequency rank #11,851, classified as anoun, pronounced \skɔʁ\. sires is at rank #48,797, tagged as anoun, pronounced \siʁ\.

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 60648, this pair ranks #96,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of scores vs sires

Shared letters: ers. Private to "scores": co. Private to "sires": i.

"scores" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "sires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • scores ← csores · sccores · scoers · scoress · scorres · scorse · scroes · socres
  • sires ← isres · siers · siress · sirres · sirse · sries · ssires

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "scores" and "sires" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\skɔʁ\ versus \siʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "scores" vs "sires" - which ranks higher?
"scores" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,851 in our French list, against #48,797 for "sires". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "scores" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #96,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "scores" and "sires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sires vs sofres". 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 #96,539 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