Which to use
“éloignent” and “éloigner” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,426
- “éloignent” frequency rank
- #6,261
- “éloigner” frequency rank
- 29687
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éloignent | éloigner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de éloigner. | Écarter une chose ou une personne d’une autre ; mettre, porter, ou envoyer loin de, en parlant des distances, comme du temps. |
Where the eye mixes éloignent and éloigner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. éloignent runs 9 letters (VCVVCCVCC) against éloigner's 8 (VCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: éloignent vs éloigner
A purely visual mix-up. éloignent (\e.lwaɲ\) and éloigner (\e.lwa.ɲe\) 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 29687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éloignent is recorded at frequency rank #23,426, classified as averb, pronounced \e.lwaɲ\. éloigner is at rank #6,261, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.lwa.ɲe\.
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 29687, this pair ranks #315,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of éloignent vs éloigner
Shared letters: egilnoé. Private to "éloignent": t. Private to "éloigner": r.
"éloignent" · 9 letters · shape VCVVCCVCC · "éloigner" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "éloignent" for "éloigner" ever safe?
Which is more common, "éloignent" or "éloigner"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "éloignent" and "éloigner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "éloignent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "éloigner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #315,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éloignent" and "éloigner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éloignait vs éloignent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #315,108 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.