Which to use
“fléau” and “fléaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,502
- “fléau” frequency rank
- #37,816
- “fléaux” frequency rank
- 48318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | fléau | fléaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Instrument composé de deux bâtons attachés l’un à l’autre à leur bout par un lien flexible, et qui sert à battre le grain pour le séparer de la tige et de l'épi, à la manière d’un fouet rigide. L’un des deux bâtons est le manche de l’outil, l’autre en est la lame. | Pluriel de fléau. |
Same sound, different letters: fléau vs fléaux
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. fléau runs 5 letters (CCVVV) against fléaux's 6 (CCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: fléau vs fléaux
This is the hard kind. fléau and fléaux are pronounced identically (\fle.o\) and both work as anoun. 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) - “fléau” sits inside “fléaux”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
fléau is recorded at frequency rank #10,502, classified as anoun, pronounced \fle.o\. fléaux is at rank #37,816, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fle.o\.
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 48318, this pair ranks #179,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of fléau vs fléaux
Shared letters: aflué. Private to "fléau": -. Private to "fléaux": x.
"fléau" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV · "fléaux" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "fléau" and "fléaux" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "fléau" or "fléaux" show up more?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "fléau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "fléaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #179,854 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "fléau" and "fléaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "fléaux vs fuseaux". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #179,854 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.