discrètevsdiscrètesTell them apart

Quick tell: discrète is a noun, discrètes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“discrète” is a noun and “discrètes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,148
“discrète” frequency rank
#21,910
“discrètes” frequency rank
31058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature discrète discrètes
Definition Mouche discrète, c’est-à-dire grain de beauté factice placé sous de la lèvre inférieure, vers le menton. Féminin pluriel de discret.

Same sound, different letters: discrète vs discrètes

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. discrète runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against discrètes's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
discrète
9 ch
discrètes

Ear matches; page differs - discrète and discrètes

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: discrète and discrètes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \dis.kʁɛt\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “discrète” sits inside “discrètes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

discrète is recorded at frequency rank #9,148, classified as anoun, pronounced \dis.kʁɛt\. discrètes is at rank #21,910, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dis.kʁɛt\.

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 31058, this pair ranks #306,255 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of discrète vs discrètes

Shared letters: cdeirstè. Private to "discrète": -. Private to "discrètes": -.

"discrète" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV  ·  "discrètes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "discrète" and "discrètes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "discrète" is a noun and "discrètes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "discrète" or "discrètes"?
"discrète" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,148 in our French list, against #21,910 for "discrètes". 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 "discrète" / "discrètes". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "discrète" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "discrètes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #306,255 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "discrète" and "discrètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "discrètes vs discrets". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #306,255 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