Which to use
“usé” and “used” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,292
- “usé” frequency rank
- #28,007
- “used” frequency rank
- 41299
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | usé | used |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Détérioré, diminué par le frottement, ruiné. | Usé, usagé, d’occasion. |
Where the eye mixes usé and used
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between usé and used
A purely visual mix-up. usé (\y.ze\) and used (\ˈjuzd\) 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 41299, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
usé is recorded at frequency rank #13,292, classified as anadj, pronounced \y.ze\. used is at rank #28,007, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈjuzd\.
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 41299, this pair ranks #234,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of usé vs used
Shared letters: su. Private to "usé": é. Private to "used": de.
"usé" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "used" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- used ← sued · uesd · usde · usedd · ussed
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "usé" and "used" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "usé" vs "used" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "usé" and "used" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "usé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "used" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "usé" and "used" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "urée vs used". 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 #234,142 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.