Which to use
“idole” is a noun and “isolés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,070
- “idole” frequency rank
- #9,505
- “isolés” frequency rank
- 20575
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | idole | isolés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Figure, statue représentant une divinité qui fait l'objet d'une adoration religieuse, précisément, une idolâtrie. | Masculin pluriel de isolé. |
Where the eye mixes idole and isolés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. idole runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against isolés's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between idole and isolés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: idole is \i.dɔl\ while isolés is \i.zɔ.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20575, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
idole is recorded at frequency rank #11,070, classified as anoun, pronounced \i.dɔl\. isolés is at rank #9,505, tagged as anadj, pronounced \i.zɔ.le\.
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 20575, this pair ranks #367,567 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of idole vs isolés
Shared letters: ilo. Private to "idole": de. Private to "isolés": sé.
"idole" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "isolés" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- idole ← diole · iddole · idloe · idoel · idolle · iodle
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "idole" for "isolés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "idole" vs "isolés" - which ranks higher?
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 "idole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "isolés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #367,567 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "idole" and "isolés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "idole vs isola". 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 #367,567 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.