hypocritevshypocritesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,013
“hypocrite” frequency rank
#16,643
“hypocrites” frequency rank
26656
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature hypocrite hypocrites
Definition Personne faisant preuve d’hypocrisie, qui affecte un air de vertu, de bonté, de soumission ou de piété. Pluriel de hypocrite.

Where the eye mixes hypocrite and hypocrites

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
hypocrite
10 ch
hypocrites

Why the eye confuses hypocrite with hypocrites

A purely visual mix-up. hypocrite (^((h muet))\i.pɔ.kʁit\) and hypocrites (\i.pɔ.kʁit\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “hypocrite” sits inside “hypocrites”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

hypocrite is recorded at frequency rank #10,013, classified as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\i.pɔ.kʁit\. hypocrites is at rank #16,643, tagged as anoun, pronounced \i.pɔ.kʁit\.

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 26656, this pair ranks #333,632 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of hypocrite vs hypocrites

Shared letters: cehioprty. Private to "hypocrite": -. Private to "hypocrites": s.

"hypocrite" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV  ·  "hypocrites" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • hypocritehhypocrite · hpyocrite · hyopcrite · hypcorite · hypoccrite · hypocirte · hypocriet · hypocritte
  • hypocriteshhypocrites · hpyocrites · hyopcrites · hypcorites · hypoccrites · hypocirtes · hypocriets · hypocritess

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "hypocrite" and "hypocrites" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (^((h muet))\i.pɔ.kʁit\ versus \i.pɔ.kʁit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "hypocrite" vs "hypocrites" - which ranks higher?
"hypocrite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,013 in our French list, against #16,643 for "hypocrites". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "hypocrite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "hypocrites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #333,632 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "hypocrite" and "hypocrites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "hypocrisie vs hypocrite". 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 #333,632 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