indivisiblevsinvisibleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,550
“indivisible” frequency rank
#5,879
“invisible” frequency rank
37429
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature indivisible invisible
Definition Qui ne peut pas être divisé. Qu’on ne peut voir, qui échappe à la vue par sa nature, par sa petitesse, par sa position, ou seulement à cause de la distance.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set indivisible and invisible apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

11 ch
indivisible
9 ch
invisible

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. indivisible (\ɛ̃.di.vi.zibl\) and invisible (\ɛ̃.vi.zibl\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37429, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

indivisible is recorded at frequency rank #31,550, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.di.vi.zibl\. invisible is at rank #5,879, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.vi.zibl\.

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 37429, this pair ranks #262,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of indivisible vs invisible

Shared letters: beilnsv. Private to "indivisible": d. Private to "invisible": -.

"indivisible" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV  ·  "invisible" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • indivisibleidnivisible · inddivisible · indiivsible · indiviisble · indivisbile · indivisibble · indivisibel · indivisiblle
  • invisibleinivsible · innvisible · inviisble · invisbile · invisibble · invisibel · invisiblle · invisilbe

Frequency comparison

indivisible#31,550
invisible#5,879

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "indivisible" and "invisible" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.di.vi.zibl\ versus \ɛ̃.vi.zibl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "indivisible" or "invisible"?
"invisible" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,879 in our French list, against #31,550 for "indivisible". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering indivisible vs invisible

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 “indivisible” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list