déficience vs déficiences, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#23,184
“déficience” frequency rank: #38,765
“déficiences” frequency rank: 61949
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	déficience	déficiences
Definition	Défaillance intellectuelle ou physique.	Pluriel de déficience.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set déficience and déficiences apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch

déficience

11 ch

déficiences

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. déficience and déficiences are pronounced identically (\de.fi.sjɑ̃s\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “déficience” sits inside “déficiences”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61949, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déficience is recorded at frequency rank #23,184, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fi.sjɑ̃s\. déficiences is at rank #38,765, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.fi.sjɑ̃s\.

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 61949, this pair ranks #89,616 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déficience vs déficiences

Shared letters: cdefiné. Private to "déficience": -. Private to "déficiences": s.

"déficience" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCCV · "déficiences" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVCCVC

Frequency comparison

déficience#23,184

déficiences#38,765

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déficience" and "déficiences" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\de.fi.sjɑ̃s\), 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, "déficience" or "déficiences"?

"déficience" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,184 in our French list, against #38,765 for "déficiences". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering déficience vs déficiences

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 “déficience” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable