cheveluvscheveuxWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: chevelu is a adjective, cheveux is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“chevelu” is an adjective and “cheveux” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,004
“chevelu” frequency rank
#1,177
“cheveux” frequency rank
28181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chevelu cheveux
Definition Qui porte des cheveux longs et touffus. Pluriel de cheveu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chevelu and cheveux apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
chevelu
7 ch
cheveux

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

chevelu and cheveux form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chevelu is recorded at frequency rank #27,004, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʃəv.ly\. cheveux is at rank #1,177, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʃə.vø\.

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 28181, this pair ranks #324,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Frequency comparison

chevelu#27,004
cheveux#1,177

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chevelu" and "cheveux" be used interchangeably?
No, "chevelu" and "cheveux" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering chevelu vs cheveux

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “chevelu”; for a noun, it's “cheveux”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “chevelu” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list