caleçonvscaleçonsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“caleçon” and “caleçons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#20,073
“caleçon” frequency rank
#39,198
“caleçons” frequency rank
59271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caleçon caleçons
Definition Vêtement de dessous en forme de pantalon ou de culotte et qui couvre le corps depuis la ceinture jusqu’à mi-cuisse, jusqu’aux genoux ou jusqu’à la cheville. Pluriel de caleçon.

Same sound, different letters: caleçon vs caleçons

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. caleçon runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against caleçons's 8 (CVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
caleçon
8 ch
caleçons

Ear matches; page differs - caleçon and caleçons

This is the hard kind. caleçon and caleçons are pronounced identically (\kal.sɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. 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) - “caleçon” sits inside “caleçons”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caleçon is recorded at frequency rank #20,073, classified as anoun, pronounced \kal.sɔ̃\. caleçons is at rank #39,198, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kal.sɔ̃\.

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 59271, this pair ranks #104,112 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caleçon vs caleçons

Shared letters: acelnoç. Private to "caleçon": -. Private to "caleçons": s.

"caleçon" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "caleçons" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "caleçon" and "caleçons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\kal.sɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "caleçon" vs "caleçons" - which ranks higher?
"caleçon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,073 in our French list, against #39,198 for "caleçons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "caleçon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "caleçons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #104,112 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "caleçon" and "caleçons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "caleçon vs calepin". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #104,112 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list