déviationvsdéviationsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#18,732
“déviation” frequency rank
#42,848
“déviations” frequency rank
61580
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déviation déviations
Definition Action de dévier ou résultat de cette action. Pluriel de déviation.

Same sound, different letters: déviation vs déviations

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters.

9 ch
déviation
10 ch
déviations

Same sound, different spelling - déviation / déviations

This is the hard kind. déviation and déviations are pronounced identically (\de.vja.sjɔ̃\) 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) - “déviation” sits inside “déviations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61580, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déviation is recorded at frequency rank #18,732, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.vja.sjɔ̃\. déviations is at rank #42,848, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.vja.sjɔ̃\.

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 61580, this pair ranks #91,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déviation vs déviations

Shared letters: adinotvé. Private to "déviation": -. Private to "déviations": s.

"déviation" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVVC  ·  "déviations" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCVVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "déviation" for "déviations" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\de.vja.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "déviation" vs "déviations" - which ranks higher?
"déviation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,732 in our French list, against #42,848 for "déviations". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

You've separated the homophone pair "déviation" / "déviations". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déviation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déviations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #91,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déviation" and "déviations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délation vs déviation". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #91,500 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list