discrètesvsdiscretsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#21,910
“discrètes” frequency rank
#15,354
“discrets” frequency rank
37264
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature discrètes discrets
Definition Féminin pluriel de discret. Masculin pluriel de discret.

Where the eye mixes discrètes and discrets

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. discrètes runs 9 letters (CVCCCVCVC) against discrets's 8 (CVCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
discrètes
8 ch
discrets

Look-alike desk: discrètes vs discrets

A purely visual mix-up. discrètes (\dis.kʁɛt\) and discrets (\dis.kʁɛ\) 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 37264, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

discrètes is recorded at frequency rank #21,910, classified as anadj, pronounced \dis.kʁɛt\. discrets is at rank #15,354, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dis.kʁɛ\.

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 37264, this pair ranks #263,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of discrètes vs discrets

Shared letters: cdeirst. Private to "discrètes": è. Private to "discrets": -.

"discrètes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC  ·  "discrets" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • discrets ← ddiscrets · dicsrets · disccrets · discerts · discrest · discretss · discretts · discrrets

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "discrètes" for "discrets" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\dis.kʁɛt\ versus \dis.kʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "discrètes" or "discrets"?
"discrets" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,354 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.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "discrètes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "discrets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #263,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "discrètes" and "discrets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diacres vs discrets". 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 #263,714 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