figurantsvsfigurinesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#28,953
“figurants” frequency rank
#16,131
“figurines” frequency rank
45084
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature figurants figurines
Definition Pluriel de figurant. Pluriel de figurine.

Where the eye mixes figurants and figurines

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
figurants
9 ch
figurines

Look-alike desk: figurants vs figurines

A purely visual mix-up. figurants (\fi.ɡy.ʁɑ̃\) and figurines (\fi.ɡy.ʁin\) 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 45084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

figurants is recorded at frequency rank #28,953, classified as anoun, pronounced \fi.ɡy.ʁɑ̃\. figurines is at rank #16,131, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fi.ɡy.ʁin\.

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 45084, this pair ranks #205,548 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of figurants vs figurines

Shared letters: fginrsu. Private to "figurants": at. Private to "figurines": e.

"figurants" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCC  ·  "figurines" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • figurantsffigurants · fgiurants · figgurants · figruants · figuarnts · figurannts · figuranst · figurantss
  • figurinesffigurines · fgiurines · figgurines · figruines · figuirnes · figuriens · figuriness · figurinnes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "figurants" and "figurines" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fi.ɡy.ʁɑ̃\ versus \fi.ɡy.ʁin\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "figurants" or "figurines"?
"figurines" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,131 in our French list, against #28,953 for "figurants". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "figurants" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "figurines" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #205,548 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "figurants" and "figurines" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "figurait vs figurants". 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 #205,548 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