Which to use
“sécher” and “secouer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,592
- “sécher” frequency rank
- #14,361
- “secouer” frequency rank
- 24953
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sécher | secouer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rendre sec. | Remuer quelque chose fortement et à plusieurs reprises. |
Where the eye mixes sécher and secouer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. sécher runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against secouer's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: sécher vs secouer
A purely visual mix-up. sécher (\se.ʃe\) and secouer (\sə.kwe\) 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 24953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sécher is recorded at frequency rank #10,592, classified as averb, pronounced \se.ʃe\. secouer is at rank #14,361, tagged as averb, pronounced \sə.kwe\.
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 24953, this pair ranks #343,600 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sécher vs secouer
Shared letters: cers. Private to "sécher": hé. Private to "secouer": ou.
"sécher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "secouer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- secouer ← escouer · sceouer · seccouer · secoeur · secouerr · secoure · secuoer · seocuer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "sécher" and "secouer" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "sécher" or "secouer" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sécher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "secouer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #343,600 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sécher" and "secouer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "secouent vs secouer". 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 #343,600 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.