Which to use
“detail” and “détails” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,895
- “detail” frequency rank
- #1,519
- “détails” frequency rank
- 37414
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | detail | détails |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Détail. | Pluriel de détail. |
Where the eye mixes detail and détails
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. detail runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against détails's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses detail with détails
A purely visual mix-up. detail (\ˈdi.teɪl\) and détails (\de.taj\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
detail is recorded at frequency rank #35,895, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈdi.teɪl\. détails is at rank #1,519, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.taj\.
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 37414, this pair ranks #262,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of detail vs détails
Shared letters: adilt. Private to "detail": e. Private to "détails": sé.
"detail" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "détails" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- detail ← ddetail · deatil · detaill · detali · detial · dettail · dteail · edtail
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "detail" for "détails" ever safe?
Frequency check: "detail" vs "détails" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "detail" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détails" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,683 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "detail" and "détails" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "detail vs devil". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #262,683 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.