Which to use
“clandestin” and “clandestins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,835
- “clandestin” frequency rank
- #11,016
- “clandestins” frequency rank
- 26851
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clandestin | clandestins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui se fait en cachette et contre les lois ou la morale. | Masculin pluriel de clandestin. |
Same sound, different letters: clandestin vs clandestins
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters. clandestin runs 10 letters (CCVCCVCCVC) against clandestins's 11 (CCVCCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: clandestin vs clandestins
This is the hard kind. clandestin and clandestins are pronounced identically (\klɑ̃.dɛs.tɛ̃\) 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) - “clandestin” sits inside “clandestins”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26851, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clandestin is recorded at frequency rank #15,835, classified as anadj, pronounced \klɑ̃.dɛs.tɛ̃\. clandestins is at rank #11,016, tagged as anadj, pronounced \klɑ̃.dɛs.tɛ̃\.
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 26851, this pair ranks #332,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of clandestin vs clandestins
Shared letters: acdeilnst. Private to "clandestin": -. Private to "clandestins": -.
"clandestin" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC · "clandestins" · 11 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clandestin ← calndestin · cclandestin · cladnestin · clanddestin · clandesitn · clandesstin · clandestinn · clandestni
- clandestins ← calndestins · cclandestins · cladnestins · clanddestins · clandesitns · clandesstins · clandestinns · clandestinss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "clandestin" for "clandestins" ever safe?
Which is more common, "clandestin" or "clandestins"?
After this comparison
"clandestin" and "clandestins" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "clandestin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clandestins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #332,470 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clandestin" and "clandestins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "clandestin vs clandestines". 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 #332,470 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.