Which to use
“défilé” and “défilés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,498
- “défilé” frequency rank
- #19,266
- “défilés” frequency rank
- 25764
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défilé | défilés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Passage étroit où il ne peut passer que peu de personnes de front. | Pluriel de défilé. |
Same sound, different letters: défilé vs défilés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. défilé runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against défilés's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - défilé / défilés
This is the hard kind. défilé and défilés are pronounced identically (\de.fi.le\) 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) - “défilé” sits inside “défilés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défilé is recorded at frequency rank #6,498, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fi.le\. défilés is at rank #19,266, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.fi.le\.
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 25764, this pair ranks #338,980 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défilé vs défilés
Shared letters: dfilé. Private to "défilé": -. Private to "défilés": s.
"défilé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "défilés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défilé" and "défilés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "défilé" or "défilés"?
Useful next steps
"défilé" and "défilés" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "défilé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "défilés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #338,980 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défilé" and "défilés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défilés vs demies". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #338,980 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.