Which to use
“explosion” and “explosive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,607
- “explosion” frequency rank
- #19,832
- “explosive” frequency rank
- 23439
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | explosion | explosive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | État, bruit, mouvement subit et impétueux que produisent les poudres, les mélanges de salpêtre et de soufre, certains mélanges de gaz, etc., lorsqu’ils s’enflamment. | Consonne à tension croissante. |
Where the eye mixes explosion and explosive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses explosion with explosive
A purely visual mix-up. explosion (\ɛk.splo.zjɔ̃\) and explosive (\ɛk.splɔ.ziv\) 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 23439, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
explosion is recorded at frequency rank #3,607, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛk.splo.zjɔ̃\. explosive is at rank #19,832, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛk.splɔ.ziv\.
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 23439, this pair ranks #352,474 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of explosion vs explosive
Shared letters: eilopsx. Private to "explosion": n. Private to "explosive": v.
"explosion" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVVC · "explosive" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "explosion" and "explosive" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "explosion" or "explosive"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "explosion" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "explosive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #352,474 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "explosion" and "explosive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "explosive vs explosives". 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 #352,474 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.