Which to use
“adéquate” and “adéquats” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,792
- “adéquate” frequency rank
- #32,661
- “adéquats” frequency rank
- 48453
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adéquate | adéquats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de adéquat. | Masculin pluriel de adéquat. |
Where the eye mixes adéquate and adéquats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. adéquate (VCVCVVCV) and adéquats (VCVCVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses adéquate with adéquats
A purely visual mix-up. adéquate (\a.de.kwat\) and adéquats (\a.de.kwa\) 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 a single letter - e in “adéquate” becomes s in “adéquats”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adéquate is recorded at frequency rank #15,792, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.de.kwat\. adéquats is at rank #32,661, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.de.kwa\.
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 48453, this pair ranks #178,812 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of adéquate vs adéquats
Shared letters: adqtué. Private to "adéquate": e. Private to "adéquats": s.
"adéquate" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVVCV · "adéquats" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "adéquate" and "adéquats" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "adéquate" or "adéquats"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "adéquate" and "adéquats" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "adéquate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adéquats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #178,812 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adéquate" and "adéquats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adéquates vs adéquats". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #178,812 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.