stepvsstupsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#17,826
“step” frequency rank
#41,021
“stups” frequency rank
58847
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature step stups
Definition Accessoire de mise en forme, de fitness, ressemblant à une marche sur laquelle on monte et on descend. Pluriel de stup.

Where the eye mixes step and stups

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
step
5 ch
stups

Look-alike desk: step vs stups

A purely visual mix-up. step (\stɛp\) and stups (\styp\) 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 58847, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

step is recorded at frequency rank #17,826, classified as anoun, pronounced \stɛp\. stups is at rank #41,021, tagged as anoun, pronounced \styp\.

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 58847, this pair ranks #106,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of step vs stups

Shared letters: pst. Private to "step": e. Private to "stups": u.

"step" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "stups" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stepsstep · stepp · stpe · sttep · tsep
  • stupssstups · stpus · sttups · stupps · stupss · stusp · sutps · tsups

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "step" and "stups" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\stɛp\ versus \styp\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "step" vs "stups" - which ranks higher?
"step" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,826 in our French list, against #41,021 for "stups". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "step" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "stups" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #106,538 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "step" and "stups" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "studi vs stups". 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 #106,538 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