Which to use
“temp” and “terms” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,891
- “temp” frequency rank
- #47,644
- “terms” frequency rank
- 74535
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | temp | terms |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Intérimaire (suppléant, employé embauché pour une courte durée). | Pluriel de term. |
Where the eye mixes temp and terms
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. temp runs 4 letters (CVCC) against terms's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses temp with terms
A purely visual mix-up. temp (\tɛmp\) and terms ([tɝmz]) 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 74535, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
temp is recorded at frequency rank #26,891, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛmp\. terms is at rank #47,644, tagged as anoun, pronounced [tɝmz].
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 74535, this pair ranks #36,846 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of temp vs terms
Shared letters: emt. Private to "temp": p. Private to "terms": rs.
"temp" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "terms" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "temp" and "terms" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "temp" or "terms"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "temp" and "terms" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "temp" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "terms" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #36,846 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "temp" and "terms" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terms vs thermos". 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 #36,846 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.