grimacevsgrimacesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,333
“grimace” frequency rank
#32,423
“grimaces” frequency rank
53756
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature grimace grimaces
Definition Contorsion du visage faite souvent à dessein. Pluriel de grimace.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set grimace and grimaces apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
grimace
8 ch
grimaces

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. grimace and grimaces are pronounced identically (\ɡʁi.mas\) 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) - “grimace” sits inside “grimaces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53756, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

grimace is recorded at frequency rank #21,333, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁi.mas\. grimaces is at rank #32,423, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɡʁi.mas\.

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 53756, this pair ranks #138,582 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of grimace vs grimaces

Shared letters: acegimr. Private to "grimace": -. Private to "grimaces": s.

"grimace" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "grimaces" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • grimaceggrimace · girmace · griamce · grimacce · grimaec · grimcae · grimmace · grmiace
  • grimacesggrimaces · girmaces · griamces · grimacces · grimacess · grimacse · grimaecs · grimcaes

Frequency comparison

grimace#21,333
grimaces#32,423

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "grimace" and "grimaces" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɡʁi.mas\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "grimace" or "grimaces"?
"grimace" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,333 in our French list, against #32,423 for "grimaces". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering grimace vs grimaces

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “grimace” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list