indésirable vs indésirables, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#29,396
“indésirable” frequency rank: #17,737
“indésirables” frequency rank: 47133
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	indésirable	indésirables
Definition	Que l’on ne peut pas désirer.	Pluriel de l’adjectif indésirable.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set indésirable and indésirables apart are highlighted. They share 11 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch

indésirable

12 ch

indésirables

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. indésirable and indésirables are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.de.zi.ʁabl\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “indésirable” sits inside “indésirables”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

indésirable is recorded at frequency rank #29,396, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.de.zi.ʁabl\. indésirables is at rank #17,737, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.de.zi.ʁabl\.

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 47133, this pair ranks #189,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of indésirable vs indésirables

Shared letters: abdeilnrsé. Private to "indésirable": -. Private to "indésirables": -.

"indésirable" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV · "indésirables" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

indésirable#29,396

indésirables#17,737

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "indésirable" and "indésirables" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\ɛ̃.de.zi.ʁabl\), 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, "indésirable" or "indésirables"?

"indésirables" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,737 in our French list, against #29,396 for "indésirable". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering indésirable vs indésirables

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 “indésirable” entry
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