Which to use
“insensé” and “intense” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,230
- “insensé” frequency rank
- #4,498
- “intense” frequency rank
- 22728
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | insensé | intense |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dont les actions ou les discours ne sont pas conformes à la raison, au bon sens. | Qui dépasse la mesure ordinaire ; qui est grand, fort ou vif. |
Where the eye mixes insensé and intense
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between insensé and intense
A purely visual mix-up. insensé (\ɛ̃.sɑ̃.se\) and intense (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
insensé is recorded at frequency rank #18,230, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.sɑ̃.se\. intense is at rank #4,498, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\.
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 22728, this pair ranks #356,471 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of insensé vs intense
Shared letters: eins. Private to "insensé": é. Private to "intense": t.
"insensé" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "intense" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- intense ← inetnse · inntense · intenes · intennse · intensse · intesne · intnese · inttense
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "insensé" and "intense" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "insensé" or "intense"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "insensé" and "intense" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "insensé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intense" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #356,471 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "insensé" and "intense" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "insensé vs insensés". 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 #356,471 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.