Which to use
“adolescence” is a noun and “adolescent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,268
- “adolescence” frequency rank
- #6,677
- “adolescent” frequency rank
- 13945
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | adolescence | adolescent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Période de la vie comprise entre le moment où l’être humain entre dans la puberté et le moment où il atteint la majorité civile, où il sera alors considéré comme un adulte. | Qui est dans l’âge au-dessus de l’enfance sans être encore adulte. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set adolescence and adolescent apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: adolescence is \a.dɔ.lɛ.sɑ̃s\ while adolescent is \a.dɔ.le.sɑ̃\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13945, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
adolescence is recorded at frequency rank #7,268, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.dɔ.lɛ.sɑ̃s\. adolescent is at rank #6,677, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.dɔ.le.sɑ̃\.
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 13945, this pair ranks #398,845 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of adolescence vs adolescent
Shared letters: acdelnos. Private to "adolescence": -. Private to "adolescent": t.
"adolescence" · 11 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCCV · "adolescent" · 10 letters · shape VCVCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- adolescence ← addolescence · adloescence · adoelscence · adolecsence · adolesccence · adolescecne · adolescencce · adolescenec
- adolescent ← addolescent · adloescent · adoelscent · adolecsent · adolesccent · adolescennt · adolescentt · adolescetn
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "adolescence" and "adolescent" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "adolescence" or "adolescent"?
Remembering adolescence vs adolescent
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “adolescence”; for an adjective, it's “adolescent”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “adolescence” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable