Which to use
“féline” and “félins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,629
- “féline” frequency rank
- #29,785
- “félins” frequency rank
- 75414
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | féline | félins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de félin. | Masculin pluriel de félin. |
Where the eye mixes féline and félins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. féline (CVCVCV) and félins (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses féline with félins
A purely visual mix-up. féline (\fe.lin\) and félins (\fe.lɛ̃\) 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 a single letter - e in “féline” becomes s in “félins”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75414, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
féline is recorded at frequency rank #45,629, classified as anadj, pronounced \fe.lin\. félins is at rank #29,785, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fe.lɛ̃\.
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 75414, this pair ranks #34,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of féline vs félins
Shared letters: filné. Private to "féline": e. Private to "félins": s.
"féline" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "félins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "féline" and "félins" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "féline" or "félins"?
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 "féline" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "félins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #34,160 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "féline" and "félins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "féline vs fétide". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #34,160 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.