Which to use
“intense” and “intensif” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,498
- “intense” frequency rank
- #16,396
- “intensif” frequency rank
- 20894
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intense | intensif |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui dépasse la mesure ordinaire ; qui est grand, fort ou vif. | À quoi on fait dépasser la mesure ordinaire. |
Where the eye mixes intense and intensif
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between intense and intensif
A purely visual mix-up. intense (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\) and intensif (\ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sif\) 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 20894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intense is recorded at frequency rank #4,498, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃s\. intensif is at rank #16,396, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɑ̃.sif\.
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 20894, this pair ranks #365,935 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of intense vs intensif
Shared letters: einst. Private to "intense": -. Private to "intensif": f.
"intense" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "intensif" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intense" and "intensif" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "intense" vs "intensif" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "intense" and "intensif" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "intense" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intensif" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #365,935 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intense" and "intensif" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intensif vs inventif". 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 #365,935 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.