Which to use
“secouer” and “secourir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,361
- “secouer” frequency rank
- #17,269
- “secourir” frequency rank
- 31630
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | secouer | secourir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Remuer quelque chose fortement et à plusieurs reprises. | Aider ; courir à l’aide de quelqu’un ; prêter assistance à qui en a besoin. |
Where the eye mixes secouer and secourir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. secouer runs 7 letters (CVCVVVC) against secourir's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: secouer vs secourir
A purely visual mix-up. secouer (\sə.kwe\) and secourir (\sə.ku.ʁiʁ\) 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 31630, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
secouer is recorded at frequency rank #14,361, classified as averb, pronounced \sə.kwe\. secourir is at rank #17,269, tagged as averb, pronounced \sə.ku.ʁiʁ\.
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 31630, this pair ranks #302,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of secouer vs secourir
Shared letters: ceorsu. Private to "secouer": -. Private to "secourir": i.
"secouer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC · "secourir" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "secouer" and "secourir" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "secouer" vs "secourir" - which ranks higher?
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 "secouer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "secourir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #302,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "secouer" and "secourir" 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 #302,605 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.