Which to use
“secours” and “séjour” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,889
- “secours” frequency rank
- #2,647
- “séjour” frequency rank
- 4536
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | secours | séjour |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aide, assistance dans le danger, dans le besoin. | Demeure, résidence plus ou moins longue dans un lieu, dans un pays. |
Where the eye mixes secours and séjour
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. secours runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against séjour's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between secours and séjour
A purely visual mix-up. secours (\sə.kuʁ\) and séjour (\se.ʒuʁ\) 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 4536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
secours is recorded at frequency rank #1,889, classified as anoun, pronounced \sə.kuʁ\. séjour is at rank #2,647, tagged as anoun, pronounced \se.ʒuʁ\.
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 4536, this pair ranks #431,361 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of secours vs séjour
Shared letters: orsu. Private to "secours": ce. Private to "séjour": jé.
"secours" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "séjour" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- secours ← escours · sceours · seccours · secorus · secourrs · secourss · secousr · secuors
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "secours" and "séjour" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "secours" or "séjour"?
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 "secours" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "séjour" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,361 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "secours" and "séjour" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "séjour vs séjourna". 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 #431,361 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.