docile vs dociles, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#24,939
“docile” frequency rank: #40,716
“dociles” frequency rank: 65655
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	docile	dociles
Definition	Qui a de la disposition à se laisser conduire et diriger. Qui obéit facilement. Caractère docile.	Pluriel de docile.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set docile and dociles apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

docile

7 ch

dociles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. docile and dociles are pronounced identically (\dɔ.sil\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “docile” sits inside “dociles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65655, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

docile is recorded at frequency rank #24,939, classified as anadj, pronounced \dɔ.sil\. dociles is at rank #40,716, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dɔ.sil\.

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 65655, this pair ranks #71,359 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of docile vs dociles

Shared letters: cdeilo. Private to "docile": -. Private to "dociles": s.

"docile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dociles" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

docile ← dcoile · ddocile · doccile · dociel · docille · doclie · doicle · odcile
dociles ← dcoiles · ddociles · docciles · dociels · dociless · docilles · docilse · doclies

Frequency comparison

docile#24,939

dociles#40,716

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "docile" and "dociles" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\dɔ.sil\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "docile" or "dociles"?

"docile" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,939 in our French list, against #40,716 for "dociles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering docile vs dociles

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “docile” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable