zérosvsZeusConfusable pair

Quick tell: zéros is a noun, Zeus is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“zéros” is a noun and “Zeus” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,083
“zéros” frequency rank
#15,541
“Zeus” frequency rank
48624
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature zéros Zeus
Definition Pluriel de zéro. Dieu du ciel et de l’orage, roi des dieux et des humains, dont les symboles sont l’aigle et le foudre, dernier fils de Cronos et de Rhéa.

Where the eye mixes zéros and Zeus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

5 ch
zéros
4 ch
Zeus

Look-alike desk: zéros vs Zeus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: zéros is \ze.ʁɔ\ while Zeus is \dzøs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48624, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

zéros is recorded at frequency rank #33,083, classified as anoun, pronounced \ze.ʁɔ\. Zeus is at rank #15,541, tagged as aname, pronounced \dzøs\.

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 48624, this pair ranks #177,375 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of zéros vs Zeus

Shared letters: sz. Private to "zéros": oré. Private to "Zeus": eu.

"zéros" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "Zeus" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Zeusezus · zesu · zeuss · zues · zzeus

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "zéros" for "Zeus" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "zéros" is a noun and "Zeus" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "zéros" or "Zeus" show up more?
"Zeus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,541 in our French list, against #33,083 for "zéros". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "zéros" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Zeus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #177,375 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "zéros" and "Zeus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "zélés vs zéros". 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 #177,375 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