dépouille vs dépouilles, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#15,612
“dépouille” frequency rank: #27,043
“dépouilles” frequency rank: 42655
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dépouille	dépouilles
Definition	Peau qui, au moment de la mue, se détache du corps des serpents et de certains insectes.	Pluriel de dépouille.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dépouille and dépouilles apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

dépouille

10 ch

dépouilles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. dépouille and dépouilles are pronounced identically (\de.puj\) 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) - “dépouille” sits inside “dépouilles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépouille is recorded at frequency rank #15,612, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.puj\. dépouilles is at rank #27,043, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.puj\.

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 42655, this pair ranks #223,971 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dépouille vs dépouilles

Shared letters: deilopué. Private to "dépouille": -. Private to "dépouilles": s.

"dépouille" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVVCCV · "dépouilles" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVVCCVC

Frequency comparison

dépouille#15,612

dépouilles#27,043

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépouille" and "dépouilles" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\de.puj\), 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, "dépouille" or "dépouilles"?

"dépouille" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,612 in our French list, against #27,043 for "dépouilles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dépouille vs dépouilles

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