Which to use
“adieu” is an intj and “adieux” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,419
- “adieu” frequency rank
- #12,092
- “adieux” frequency rank
- 17511
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adieu | adieux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Terme de civilité et d’amitié dont on se sert en prenant congé de quelqu’un qu’on ne reverra plus pendant une longue période, si ce n’est jamais. | Pluriel de adieu. |
Same sound, different letters: adieu vs adieux
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. adieu runs 5 letters (VCVVV) against adieux's 6 (VCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - adieu and adieux
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: adieu and adieux carry the same recorded pronunciation, \a.djø\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anintj, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “adieu” sits inside “adieux”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adieu is recorded at frequency rank #5,419, classified as anintj, pronounced \a.djø\. adieux is at rank #12,092, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.djø\.
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 17511, this pair ranks #382,809 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adieu vs adieux
Shared letters: adeiu. Private to "adieu": -. Private to "adieux": x.
"adieu" · 5 letters · shape VCVVV · "adieux" · 6 letters · shape VCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "adieu" for "adieux" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "adieu" or "adieux" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "adieu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "adieux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #382,809 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "adieu" and "adieux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "adieux vs aïeul". 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 #382,809 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.