Which to use
“futile” is an adjective and “futilité” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,329
- “futile” frequency rank
- #47,906
- “futilité” frequency rank
- 73235
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | futile | futilité |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est frivole, qui est de peu de conséquence, de peu de considération. | Caractère d’une chose ou d’une personne futile. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set futile and futilité apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: futile is \fy.til\ while futilité is \fy.ti.li.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
futile is recorded at frequency rank #25,329, classified as anadj, pronounced \fy.til\. futilité is at rank #47,906, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fy.ti.li.te\.
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 73235, this pair ranks #41,164 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of futile vs futilité
Shared letters: filtu. Private to "futile": e. Private to "futilité": é.
"futile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "futilité" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- futile ← ffutile · ftuile · fuitle · futiel · futille · futlie · futtile · uftile
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "futile" and "futilité" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "futile" or "futilité"?
Remembering futile vs futilité
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “futile”; for a noun, it's “futilité”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “futile” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable