élusvsexclusConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,983
“élus” frequency rank
#9,828
“exclus” frequency rank
11811
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature élus exclus
Definition Masculin pluriel de élu. Masculin pluriel de exclu.

Where the eye mixes élus and exclus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. élus runs 4 letters (VCVC) against exclus's 6 (VCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
élus
6 ch
exclus

Look-alike desk: élus vs exclus

A purely visual mix-up. élus (\e.ly\) and exclus (\ɛks.kly\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

élus is recorded at frequency rank #1,983, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.ly\. exclus is at rank #9,828, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.kly\.

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 11811, this pair ranks #407,701 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of élus vs exclus

Shared letters: lsu. Private to "élus": é. Private to "exclus": cex.

"élus" · 4 letters · shape VCVC  ·  "exclus" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exclusecxlus · excclus · excllus · exclsu · excluss · exculs · exlcus · exxclus

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "élus" and "exclus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.ly\ versus \ɛks.kly\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "élus" vs "exclus" - which ranks higher?
"élus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,983 in our French list, against #9,828 for "exclus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "élus" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exclus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #407,701 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "élus" and "exclus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ell vs élus". 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 #407,701 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