Which to use
“distraction” and “distractions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,114
- “distraction” frequency rank
- #27,406
- “distractions” frequency rank
- 44520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | distraction | distractions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Inattention, inapplication de la pensée aux choses dont on devrait s’occuper. | Pluriel de distraction. |
Same sound, different letters: distraction vs distractions
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters. distraction runs 11 letters (CVCCCVCCVVC) against distractions's 12 (CVCCCVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: distraction vs distractions
This is the hard kind. distraction and distractions are pronounced identically (\dis.tʁak.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) - “distraction” sits inside “distractions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
distraction is recorded at frequency rank #17,114, classified as anoun, pronounced \dis.tʁak.sjɔ̃\. distractions is at rank #27,406, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dis.tʁak.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 44520, this pair ranks #209,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of distraction vs distractions
Shared letters: acdinorst. Private to "distraction": -. Private to "distractions": -.
"distraction" · 11 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVC · "distractions" · 12 letters · shape CVCCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- distraction ← ddistraction · disrtaction · disstraction · distarction · distracction · distraciton · distractino · distractionn
- distractions ← ddistractions · disrtactions · disstractions · distarctions · distracctions · distracitons · distractinos · distractionns
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "distraction" for "distractions" ever safe?
Frequency check: "distraction" vs "distractions" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "distraction" / "distractions". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "distraction" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "distractions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #209,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "distraction" and "distractions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diffraction vs distraction". 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 #209,868 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.