Which to use
“souci” and “source” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,644
- “souci” frequency rank
- #662
- “source” frequency rank
- 3306
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | souci | source |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Soin, préoccupation, inquiétude. | Point d’émergence naturelle d’eau, généralement souterraine, à la surface du sol. |
Where the eye mixes souci and source
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between souci and source
A purely visual mix-up. souci (\su.si\) and source (\suʁs\) 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 3306, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
souci is recorded at frequency rank #2,644, classified as anoun, pronounced \su.si\. source is at rank #662, tagged as anoun, pronounced \suʁs\.
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 3306, this pair ranks #434,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of souci vs source
Shared letters: cosu. Private to "souci": i. Private to "source": er.
"souci" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "source" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "souci" and "source" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "souci" vs "source" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "souci" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "source" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "souci" and "source" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "souci vs Soult". 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 #434,351 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.