usitévsusureWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: usité is a adjective, usure is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“usité” is an adjective and “usure” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,053
“usité” frequency rank
#11,499
“usure” frequency rank
52552
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature usité usure
Definition Qui est en usage, qui est pratiqué communément. Intérêt, profit qu’on exige d’un argent ou d’une marchandise prêtée, au-dessus du taux fixé par la loi ou établi par l’usage en matière de commerce.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set usité and usure apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
usité
5 ch
usure

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: usité is \y.zi.te\ while usure is \y.zyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52552, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

usité is recorded at frequency rank #41,053, classified as anadj, pronounced \y.zi.te\. usure is at rank #11,499, tagged as anoun, pronounced \y.zyʁ\.

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 52552, this pair ranks #146,949 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of usité vs usure

Shared letters: su. Private to "usité": ité. Private to "usure": er.

"usité" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "usure" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • usuresuure · usrue · ussure · usuer · usurre · uusre

Frequency comparison

usité#41,053
usure#11,499

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "usité" and "usure" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "usité" is an adjective and "usure" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "usité" or "usure"?
"usure" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,499 in our French list, against #41,053 for "usité". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering usité vs usure

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “usité”; for a noun, it's “usure”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “usité” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list