férocevsférocesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,176
“féroce” frequency rank
#26,019
“féroces” frequency rank
39195
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature féroce féroces
Definition Qui est cruel par instinct, en parlant des bêtes. Pluriel de féroce.

Same sound, different letters: féroce vs féroces

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. féroce runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against féroces's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
féroce
7 ch
féroces

Homophone desk: féroce vs féroces

This is the hard kind. féroce and féroces are pronounced identically (\fe.ʁɔs\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “féroce” sits inside “féroces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

féroce is recorded at frequency rank #13,176, classified as anadj, pronounced \fe.ʁɔs\. féroces is at rank #26,019, tagged as anadj, pronounced \fe.ʁɔs\.

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 39195, this pair ranks #249,775 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of féroce vs féroces

Shared letters: ceforé. Private to "féroce": -. Private to "féroces": s.

"féroce" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "féroces" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "féroce" and "féroces" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\fe.ʁɔs\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Frequency check: "féroce" vs "féroces" - which ranks higher?
"féroce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,176 in our French list, against #26,019 for "féroces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "féroce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "féroces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #249,775 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "féroce" and "féroces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "féroce vs fronce". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #249,775 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