Which to use
“spy” and “sr” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,565
- “spy” frequency rank
- #11,308
- “sr” frequency rank
- 48873
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | spy | sr |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espion. | Sieur. |
Where the eye mixes spy and sr
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses spy with sr
A purely visual mix-up. spy (\spaɪ\) and sr (\sjœʁ\) 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 48873, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
spy is recorded at frequency rank #37,565, classified as anoun, pronounced \spaɪ\. sr is at rank #11,308, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sjœʁ\.
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 48873, this pair ranks #175,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of spy vs sr
Shared letters: s. Private to "spy": py. Private to "sr": r.
"spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "sr" · 2 letters · shape CC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "spy" and "sr" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "spy" or "sr" show up more?
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 "spy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sr" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #175,358 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "spy" and "sr" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spy vs suu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #175,358 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.