Which to use
“hésitation” and “hésitations” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,978
- “hésitation” frequency rank
- #26,403
- “hésitations” frequency rank
- 38381
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | hésitation | hésitations |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action d'hésiter, doute, indécision qu’une personne manifeste par ses mouvements, par sa conduite, etc. | Pluriel de hésitation. |
Same sound, different letters: hésitation vs hésitations
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters. hésitation runs 10 letters (CVCVCVCVVC) against hésitations's 11 (CVCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: hésitation vs hésitations
This is the hard kind. hésitation and hésitations are pronounced identically (\e.zi.ta.sjɔ̃\) 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) - “hésitation” sits inside “hésitations”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38381, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
hésitation is recorded at frequency rank #11,978, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.zi.ta.sjɔ̃\. hésitations is at rank #26,403, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.zi.ta.sjɔ̃\.
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 38381, this pair ranks #255,658 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of hésitation vs hésitations
Shared letters: ahinosté. Private to "hésitation": -. Private to "hésitations": -.
"hésitation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "hésitations" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "hésitation" for "hésitations" ever safe?
Frequency check: "hésitation" vs "hésitations" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "hésitation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "hésitations" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,658 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "hésitation" and "hésitations" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "habitations vs hésitations". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #255,658 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.