exécutifsvsexécutiveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#30,155
“exécutifs” frequency rank
#26,001
“exécutive” frequency rank
56156
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exécutifs exécutive
Definition Masculin pluriel de exécutif. Féminin singulier de exécutif.

Where the eye mixes exécutifs and exécutive

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. exécutifs (VCVCVCVCC) and exécutive (VCVCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
exécutifs
9 ch
exécutive

Why the eye confuses exécutifs with exécutive

A purely visual mix-up. exécutifs (\ɛɡ.ze.ky.tif\) and exécutive (\ɛɡ.ze.ky.tiv\) 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 56156, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exécutifs is recorded at frequency rank #30,155, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛɡ.ze.ky.tif\. exécutive is at rank #26,001, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛɡ.ze.ky.tiv\.

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 56156, this pair ranks #122,880 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of exécutifs vs exécutive

Shared letters: ceituxé. Private to "exécutifs": fs. Private to "exécutive": v.

"exécutifs" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCC  ·  "exécutive" · 9 letters · shape VCVCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exécutifs" and "exécutive" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛɡ.ze.ky.tif\ versus \ɛɡ.ze.ky.tiv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "exécutifs" vs "exécutive" - which ranks higher?
"exécutive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,001 in our French list, against #30,155 for "exécutifs". 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 "exécutifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exécutive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #122,880 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exécutifs" and "exécutive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "élective vs exécutive". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #122,880 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