éclatantvséclatantesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#22,740
“éclatant” frequency rank
#43,221
“éclatantes” frequency rank
65961
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature éclatant éclatantes
Definition Qui a de l’éclat. Féminin pluriel de éclatant.

Where the eye mixes éclatant and éclatantes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. éclatant runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCC) against éclatantes's 10 (VCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
éclatant
10 ch
éclatantes

Look-alike desk: éclatant vs éclatantes

A purely visual mix-up. éclatant (\e.kla.tɑ̃\) and éclatantes (\e.kla.tɑ̃t\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “éclatant” sits inside “éclatantes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65961, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

éclatant is recorded at frequency rank #22,740, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.kla.tɑ̃\. éclatantes is at rank #43,221, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.kla.tɑ̃t\.

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 65961, this pair ranks #69,964 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of éclatant vs éclatantes

Shared letters: aclnté. Private to "éclatant": -. Private to "éclatantes": es.

"éclatant" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC  ·  "éclatantes" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "éclatant" for "éclatantes" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\e.kla.tɑ̃\ versus \e.kla.tɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "éclatant" or "éclatantes" show up more?
"éclatant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,740 in our French list, against #43,221 for "éclatantes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "éclatant" and "éclatantes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "éclatant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "éclatantes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,964 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "éclatant" and "éclatantes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éclatant vs épatant". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #69,964 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