Which to use
“intellectuel” and “intellectuels” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,836
- “intellectuel” frequency rank
- #7,198
- “intellectuels” frequency rank
- 14034
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intellectuel | intellectuels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui appartient à l’intellect ; qui est dans l’entendement. | Masculin pluriel de intellectuel. |
Same sound, different letters: intellectuel vs intellectuels
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 12 letters.
Same sound, different spelling - intellectuel / intellectuels
This is the hard kind. intellectuel and intellectuels are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.te.lɛk.tɥɛl\) 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) - “intellectuel” sits inside “intellectuels”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intellectuel is recorded at frequency rank #6,836, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.lɛk.tɥɛl\. intellectuels is at rank #7,198, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.te.lɛk.tɥɛl\.
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 14034, this pair ranks #398,475 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intellectuel vs intellectuels
Shared letters: ceilntu. Private to "intellectuel": -. Private to "intellectuels": s.
"intellectuel" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVC · "intellectuels" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- intellectuel ← inetllectuel · inntellectuel · intelectuel · intelelctuel · intellcetuel · intellecctuel · intellecteul · intellecttuel
- intellectuels ← inetllectuels · inntellectuels · intelectuels · intelelctuels · intellcetuels · intellecctuels · intellecteuls · intellecttuels
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "intellectuel" and "intellectuels" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "intellectuel" vs "intellectuels" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "intellectuel" / "intellectuels". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectuel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intellectuels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,475 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intellectuel" and "intellectuels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intellectuelles vs intellectuels". 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 #398,475 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.