Which to use
“désolée” and “désolés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,338
- “désolée” frequency rank
- #28,146
- “désolés” frequency rank
- 33484
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désolée | désolés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de désolé. | Masculin pluriel de l’adjectif désolé. |
Same sound, different letters: désolée vs désolés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. désolée (CVCVCVV) and désolés (CVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Homophone desk: désolée vs désolés
This is the hard kind. désolée and désolés are pronounced identically (\de.zɔ.le\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - e in “désolée” becomes s in “désolés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désolée is recorded at frequency rank #5,338, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.zɔ.le\. désolés is at rank #28,146, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.zɔ.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 33484, this pair ranks #290,310 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désolée vs désolés
Shared letters: dlosé. Private to "désolée": e. Private to "désolés": -.
"désolée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "désolés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désolée" for "désolés" ever safe?
Which is more common, "désolée" or "désolés"?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "désolée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désolés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,310 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désolée" and "désolés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désolés vs dévolus". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #290,310 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.