décisifsvsdécisivesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#25,291
“décisifs” frequency rank
#14,021
“décisives” frequency rank
39312
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décisifs décisives
Definition Masculin pluriel de décisif. Féminin pluriel de décisif.

Where the eye mixes décisifs and décisives

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. décisifs runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against décisives's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
décisifs
9 ch
décisives

Look-alike desk: décisifs vs décisives

A purely visual mix-up. décisifs (\de.si.zif\) and décisives (\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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39312, 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\. décisives is at rank #14,021, 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 39312, this pair ranks #248,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décisifs vs décisives

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

"décisifs" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "décisives" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "décisifs" and "décisives" mean the same thing in a sentence?
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 "décisives" - which ranks higher?
"décisives" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,021 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 "décisives" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #248,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décisifs" and "décisives" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décisifs vs decision". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #248,947 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