consensusvsconvenusTell them apart

Quick tell: consensus is a noun, convenus is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#6,280
“consensus” frequency rank
#34,036
“convenus” frequency rank
40316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature consensus convenus
Definition Accord tacite, ou sans opposition catégorique, des différentes parties d’une discussion sur un sujet déterminé. Masculin pluriel de convenu.

Where the eye mixes consensus and convenus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
consensus
8 ch
convenus

Why the eye confuses consensus with convenus

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: consensus is \kɔ̃.sɛ̃.sys\ while convenus is \kɔ̃.və.ny\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

consensus is recorded at frequency rank #6,280, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.sɛ̃.sys\. convenus is at rank #34,036, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.və.ny\.

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 40316, this pair ranks #241,442 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of consensus vs convenus

Shared letters: cenosu. Private to "consensus": -. Private to "convenus": v.

"consensus" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "convenus" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • consensuscconsensus · cnosensus · conesnsus · connsensus · consennsus · consenssu · consenssus · consensuss
  • convenuscconvenus · cnovenus · conevnus · connvenus · convennus · convensu · convenuss · conveuns

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "consensus" and "convenus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "consensus" is a noun and "convenus" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "consensus" or "convenus"?
"consensus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,280 in our French list, against #34,036 for "convenus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "consensus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "convenus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #241,442 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "consensus" and "convenus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "convenues vs convenus". 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 #241,442 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