degré vs degrés, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,871
“degré” frequency rank: #3,192
“degrés” frequency rank: 6063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	degré	degrés
Definition	Espace compris entre deux marches d’un escalier.	Pluriel de degré.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set degré and degrés apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

degré

6 ch

degrés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. degré and degrés are pronounced identically (\də.ɡʁe\) 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) - “degré” sits inside “degrés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

degré is recorded at frequency rank #2,871, classified as anoun, pronounced \də.ɡʁe\. degrés is at rank #3,192, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.ɡʁe\.

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 6063, this pair ranks #427,288 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of degré vs degrés

Shared letters: degré. Private to "degré": -. Private to "degrés": s.

"degré" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "degrés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

degré#2,871

degrés#3,192

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "degré" and "degrés" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\də.ɡʁe\), 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, "degré" or "degrés"?

"degré" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,871 in our French list, against #3,192 for "degrés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering degré vs degrés

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 “degré” entry
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