Which to use
“clandestine” is a noun and “clandestines” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,375
- “clandestine” frequency rank
- #31,886
- “clandestines” frequency rank
- 49261
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | clandestine | clandestines |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Celle qui agit de manière clandestine. | Féminin pluriel de clandestin. |
Same sound, different letters: clandestine vs clandestines
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters. clandestine runs 11 letters (CCVCCVCCVCV) against clandestines's 12 (CCVCCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - clandestine and clandestines
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: clandestine and clandestines carry the same recorded pronunciation, \klɑ̃.dɛs.tin\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “clandestine” sits inside “clandestines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
clandestine is recorded at frequency rank #17,375, classified as anoun, pronounced \klɑ̃.dɛs.tin\. clandestines is at rank #31,886, tagged as anadj, pronounced \klɑ̃.dɛs.tin\.
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 49261, this pair ranks #172,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of clandestine vs clandestines
Shared letters: acdeilnst. Private to "clandestine": -. Private to "clandestines": -.
"clandestine" · 11 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVCV · "clandestines" · 12 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- clandestine ← calndestine · cclandestine · cladnestine · clanddestine · clandesitne · clandesstine · clandestien · clandestinne
- clandestines ← calndestines · cclandestines · cladnestines · clanddestines · clandesitnes · clandesstines · clandestiens · clandestiness
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "clandestine" and "clandestines" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "clandestine" or "clandestines"?
After this comparison
"clandestine" and "clandestines" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "clandestine" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "clandestines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "clandestine" and "clandestines" 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 #172,088 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.