AdèlevsadultWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Adèle is a name, adult is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Adèle” is a name and “adult” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,512
“Adèle” frequency rank
#37,152
“adult” frequency rank
49664
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Adèle adult
Definition Prénom féminin français. Adulte.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Adèle and adult apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Adèle
5 ch
adult

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Adèle is \a.dɛl\ while adult is \aˈdʊlt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49664, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Adèle is recorded at frequency rank #12,512, classified as aname, pronounced \a.dɛl\. adult is at rank #37,152, tagged as anadj, pronounced \aˈdʊlt\.

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 49664, this pair ranks #168,824 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Adèle vs adult

Shared letters: adl. Private to "Adèle": . Private to "adult": tu.

"Adèle" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "adult" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • adultaddult · adlut · adullt · adultt · adutl · audlt · dault

Frequency comparison

Adèle#12,512
adult#37,152

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Adèle" and "adult" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Adèle" is a name and "adult" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Adèle" or "adult"?
"Adèle" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,512 in our French list, against #37,152 for "adult". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Adèle vs adult

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a name, it's “Adèle”; for an adjective, it's “adult”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Adèle” 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