Which to use
“usé” is an adjective and “user” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,292
- “usé” frequency rank
- #8,631
- “user” frequency rank
- 21923
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | usé | user |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Détérioré, diminué par le frottement, ruiné. | Détériorer par l’usage. |
Same sound, different letters: usé vs user
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 2 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - usé / user
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: usé and user carry the same recorded pronunciation, \y.ze\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21923, 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\. user is at rank #8,631, tagged as averb, pronounced \y.ze\.
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 21923, this pair ranks #360,723 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of usé vs user
Shared letters: su. Private to "usé": é. Private to "user": er.
"usé" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "user" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- user ← uesr · userr · usser
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "usé" for "user" ever safe?
Which is more common, "usé" or "user"?
Useful next steps
"usé" and "user" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "usé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "user" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #360,723 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "usé" and "user" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ubu vs usé". 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 #360,723 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.