Which to use
“indécence” is a noun and “indécent” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,854
- “indécence” frequency rank
- #22,899
- “indécent” frequency rank
- 55753
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indécence | indécent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Caractère de ce qui est indécent. | Qui blesse la pudeur. |
Where the eye mixes indécence and indécent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. indécence runs 9 letters (VCCVCVCCV) against indécent's 8 (VCCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: indécence vs indécent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indécence is \ɛ̃.de.sɑ̃s\ while indécent is \ɛ̃.de.sɑ̃\. 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 55753, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indécence is recorded at frequency rank #32,854, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.de.sɑ̃s\. indécent is at rank #22,899, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.de.sɑ̃\.
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 55753, this pair ranks #125,443 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of indécence vs indécent
Shared letters: cdeiné. Private to "indécence": -. Private to "indécent": t.
"indécence" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV · "indécent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "indécence" for "indécent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "indécence" vs "indécent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "indécence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "indécent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #125,443 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indécence" and "indécent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "indécence vs indigence". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #125,443 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.