distinctesvsdistinctsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,488
“distinctes” frequency rank
#11,753
“distincts” frequency rank
22241
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature distinctes distincts
Definition Féminin pluriel de distinct. Masculin pluriel de distinct.

Where the eye mixes distinctes and distincts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. distinctes runs 10 letters (CVCCVCCCVC) against distincts's 9 (CVCCVCCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
distinctes
9 ch
distincts

Why the eye confuses distinctes with distincts

A purely visual mix-up. distinctes (\dis.tɛ̃kt\) and distincts (\dis.tɛ̃\) 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 22241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

distinctes is recorded at frequency rank #10,488, classified as anadj, pronounced \dis.tɛ̃kt\. distincts is at rank #11,753, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dis.tɛ̃\.

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 22241, this pair ranks #359,086 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of distinctes vs distincts

Shared letters: cdinst. Private to "distinctes": e. Private to "distincts": -.

"distinctes" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCCVC  ·  "distincts" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • distinctes ← ddistinctes · disitnctes · disstinctes · disticntes · distincctes · distincets · distinctess · distinctse
  • distincts ← ddistincts · disitncts · disstincts · disticnts · distinccts · distincst · distinctss · distinctts

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "distinctes" and "distincts" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\dis.tɛ̃kt\ versus \dis.tɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "distinctes" vs "distincts" - which ranks higher?
"distinctes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,488 in our French list, against #11,753 for "distincts". 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 "distinctes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "distincts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #359,086 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "distinctes" and "distincts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "distantes vs distinctes". 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 #359,086 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