spyvssrcTell them apart

Which to use

“spy” and “src” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#37,565
“spy” frequency rank
#25,816
“src” frequency rank
63381
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature spy src
Definition Espion. Source.

Where the eye mixes spy and src

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
spy
3 ch
src

Look-alike desk: spy vs src

A purely visual mix-up. spy (\spaɪ\) and src (\sɔːs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63381, 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\. src is at rank #25,816, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sɔːs\.

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 63381, this pair ranks #82,239 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of spy vs src

Shared letters: s. Private to "spy": py. Private to "src": cr.

"spy" · 3 letters · shape CCV  ·  "src" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "spy" and "src" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\spaɪ\ versus \sɔːs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "spy" or "src" show up more?
"src" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,816 in our French list, against #37,565 for "spy". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "spy" and "src" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "spy" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "src" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #82,239 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "spy" and "src" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "spy vs suu". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #82,239 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list