Which to use
“souche” and “souci” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,392
- “souche” frequency rank
- #2,644
- “souci” frequency rank
- 12036
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | souche | souci |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie basse du tronc d’un arbre qui reste en terre quand l’arbre a été coupé. | Soin, préoccupation, inquiétude. |
Where the eye mixes souche and souci
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. souche runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against souci's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses souche with souci
A purely visual mix-up. souche (\suʃ\) and souci (\su.si\) 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 12036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
souche is recorded at frequency rank #9,392, classified as anoun, pronounced \suʃ\. souci is at rank #2,644, tagged as anoun, pronounced \su.si\.
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 12036, this pair ranks #406,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of souche vs souci
Shared letters: cosu. Private to "souche": eh. Private to "souci": i.
"souche" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "souci" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "souche" for "souci" ever safe?
Which is more common, "souche" or "souci"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "souche" and "souci" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "souche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "souci" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,836 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "souche" and "souci" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "souabe vs souche". 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 #406,836 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.