exclusifsvsexplosifsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,281
“exclusifs” frequency rank
#10,321
“explosifs” frequency rank
29602
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exclusifs explosifs
Definition Masculin pluriel de exclusif. Masculin pluriel de explosif.

Where the eye mixes exclusifs and explosifs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. exclusifs and explosifs follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
exclusifs
9 ch
explosifs

Visual trap between exclusifs and explosifs

A purely visual mix-up. exclusifs (\ɛks.kly.zif\) and explosifs (\ɛks.plo.zif\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29602, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exclusifs is recorded at frequency rank #19,281, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.kly.zif\. explosifs is at rank #10,321, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.plo.zif\.

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 29602, this pair ranks #315,642 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of exclusifs vs explosifs

Shared letters: efilsx. Private to "exclusifs": cu. Private to "explosifs": op.

"exclusifs" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCC  ·  "explosifs" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exclusifs ← ecxlusifs · excclusifs · excllusifs · exclsuifs · excluisfs · exclusfis · exclusiffs · exclusifss
  • explosifs ← epxlosifs · exlposifs · expllosifs · exploisfs · explosfis · explosiffs · explosifss · explosisf

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "exclusifs" and "explosifs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɛks.kly.zif\ versus \ɛks.plo.zif\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "exclusifs" or "explosifs"?
"explosifs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,321 in our French list, against #19,281 for "exclusifs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "exclusifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "explosifs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #315,642 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exclusifs" and "explosifs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exclusifs vs exclusions". 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 #315,642 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