exclusifvsexclusionConfusable pair

Quick tell: exclusif is a adjective, exclusion is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“exclusif” is an adjective and “exclusion” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,502
“exclusif” frequency rank
#6,294
“exclusion” frequency rank
12796
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exclusif exclusion
Definition Qui a force d’exclure. Action d’exclure ou fait d’être exclu.

Where the eye mixes exclusif and exclusion

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. exclusif runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against exclusion's 9 (VCCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
exclusif
9 ch
exclusion

Look-alike desk: exclusif vs exclusion

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: exclusif is \ɛks.kly.zif\ while exclusion is \ɛk.skly.zjɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12796, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exclusif is recorded at frequency rank #6,502, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.kly.zif\. exclusion is at rank #6,294, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛk.skly.zjɔ̃\.

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 12796, this pair ranks #403,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of exclusif vs exclusion

Shared letters: ceilsux. Private to "exclusif": f. Private to "exclusion": no.

"exclusif" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "exclusion" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exclusif ← ecxlusif · excclusif · excllusif · exclsuif · excluisf · exclusfi · exclusiff · exclussif
  • exclusion ← ecxlusion · excclusion · excllusion · exclsuion · excluison · exclusino · exclusionn · exclusoin

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "exclusif" and "exclusion" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "exclusif" is an adjective and "exclusion" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "exclusif" or "exclusion" show up more?
"exclusion" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,294 in our French list, against #6,502 for "exclusif". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "exclusif" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exclusion" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #403,714 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exclusif" and "exclusion" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "excluait vs exclusif". 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 #403,714 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