compliqué vs compliquées, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,415
“compliqué” frequency rank: #13,757
“compliquées” frequency rank: 16172
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	compliqué	compliquées
Definition	Complexe, embrouillé.	Féminin pluriel de compliqué.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set compliqué and compliquées apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

compliqué

11 ch

compliquées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. compliqué and compliquées are pronounced identically (\kɔ̃.pli.ke\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “compliqué” sits inside “compliquées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compliqué is recorded at frequency rank #2,415, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pli.ke\. compliquées is at rank #13,757, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.pli.ke\.

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 16172, this pair ranks #389,042 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of compliqué vs compliquées

Shared letters: cilmopqué. Private to "compliqué": -. Private to "compliquées": es.

"compliqué" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVV · "compliquées" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCVVVC

Frequency comparison

compliqué#2,415

compliquées#13,757

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "compliqué" and "compliquées" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\kɔ̃.pli.ke\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "compliqué" or "compliquées"?

"compliqué" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,415 in our French list, against #13,757 for "compliquées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering compliqué vs compliquées

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “compliqué” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable