séchésvssemésWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#40,039
“séchés” frequency rank
#45,869
“semés” frequency rank
85908
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature séchés semés
Definition Masculin pluriel de séché. Masculin pluriel de semé.

Where the eye mixes séchés and semés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. séchés runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against semés's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
séchés
5 ch
semés

Why the eye confuses séchés with semés

A purely visual mix-up. séchés (\se.ʃe\) and semés (\sə.me\) 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 85908, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

séchés is recorded at frequency rank #40,039, classified as anadj, pronounced \se.ʃe\. semés is at rank #45,869, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sə.me\.

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 85908, this pair ranks #10,547 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of séchés vs semés

Shared letters: sé. Private to "séchés": ch. Private to "semés": em.

"séchés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "semés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "séchés" for "semés" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\se.ʃe\ versus \sə.me\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "séchés" vs "semés" - which ranks higher?
"séchés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,039 in our French list, against #45,869 for "semés". 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 "séchés" and "semés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "séchés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "semés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,547 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "séchés" and "semés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "semés vs sémites". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #10,547 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