Which to use
“délicate” and “délicats” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,430
- “délicate” frequency rank
- #21,923
- “délicats” frequency rank
- 29353
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délicate | délicats |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de délicat. | Masculin pluriel de délicat. |
Where the eye mixes délicate and délicats
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. délicate (CVCVCVCV) and délicats (CVCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses délicate with délicats
A purely visual mix-up. délicate (\de.li.kat\) and délicats (\de.li.ka\) 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 a single letter - e in “délicate” becomes s in “délicats”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29353, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délicate is recorded at frequency rank #7,430, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.li.kat\. délicats is at rank #21,923, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.li.ka\.
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 29353, this pair ranks #317,211 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délicate vs délicats
Shared letters: acdilté. Private to "délicate": e. Private to "délicats": s.
"délicate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "délicats" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "délicate" and "délicats" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "délicate" or "délicats" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "délicate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délicats" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #317,211 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délicate" and "délicats" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délicats vs délirants". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #317,211 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.