décisifsvsdécisiveTell them apart

Which to use

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

#25,291
“décisifs” frequency rank
#8,535
“décisive” frequency rank
33826
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décisifs décisive
Definition Masculin pluriel de décisif. Féminin singulier de décisif.

Where the eye mixes décisifs and décisive

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décisifs (CVCVCVCC) and décisive (CVCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
décisifs
8 ch
décisive

Visual trap between décisifs and décisive

A purely visual mix-up. décisifs (\de.si.zif\) and décisive (\de.si.ziv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33826, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décisifs is recorded at frequency rank #25,291, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.si.zif\. décisive is at rank #8,535, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.si.ziv\.

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 33826, this pair ranks #288,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décisifs vs décisive

Shared letters: cdisé. Private to "décisifs": f. Private to "décisive": ev.

"décisifs" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "décisive" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décisifs" and "décisive" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.si.zif\ versus \de.si.ziv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "décisifs" vs "décisive" - which ranks higher?
"décisive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,535 in our French list, against #25,291 for "décisifs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "décisifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décisive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #288,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décisifs" and "décisive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décisifs vs decision". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #288,022 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