insensésvsintenseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#47,396
“insensés” frequency rank
#4,498
“intense” frequency rank
51894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature insensés intense
Definition Masculin pluriel de insensé. Qui dépasse la mesure ordinaire ; qui est grand, fort ou vif.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set insensés and intense apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
insensés
7 ch
intense

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. insensés (\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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

insensés is recorded at frequency rank #47,396, 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 51894, this pair ranks #151,668 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of insensés vs intense

Shared letters: eins. Private to "insensés": é. Private to "intense": t.

"insensés" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC  ·  "intense" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • intenseinetnse · inntense · intenes · intennse · intensse · intesne · intnese · inttense

Frequency comparison

insensés#47,396
intense#4,498

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "insensés" and "intense" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.sɑ̃.se\ versus \ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "insensés" or "intense"?
"intense" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,498 in our French list, against #47,396 for "insensés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering insensés vs intense

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 “insensés” 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