Which to use
“approximative” and “approximatives” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,445
- “approximative” frequency rank
- #48,917
- “approximatives” frequency rank
- 68362
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | approximative | approximatives |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de approximatif. | Féminin pluriel de approximatif. |
Same sound, different letters: approximative vs approximatives
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 13 letters.
Homophone desk: approximative vs approximatives
This is the hard kind. approximative and approximatives are pronounced identically (\a.pʁɔk.si.ma.tiv\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “approximative” sits inside “approximatives”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68362, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
approximative is recorded at frequency rank #19,445, classified as anadj, pronounced \a.pʁɔk.si.ma.tiv\. approximatives is at rank #48,917, tagged as anadj, pronounced \a.pʁɔk.si.ma.tiv\.
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 68362, this pair ranks #59,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of approximative vs approximatives
Shared letters: aeimoprtvx. Private to "approximative": -. Private to "approximatives": s.
"approximative" · 13 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCVCV · "approximatives" · 14 letters · shape VCCCVCVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- approximative ← apporximative · approixmative · approxiamtive · approximaitve · approximatiev · approximativve · approximattive · approximatvie
- approximatives ← apporximatives · approixmatives · approxiamtives · approximaitves · approximatievs · approximativess · approximativse · approximativves
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "approximative" and "approximatives" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "approximative" vs "approximatives" - which ranks higher?
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 "approximative" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "approximatives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "approximative" and "approximatives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "approximations vs approximatives". 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 #59,493 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.