Which to use
“intolérable” and “intolérables” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,169
- “intolérable” frequency rank
- #37,387
- “intolérables” frequency rank
- 54556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intolérable | intolérables |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qu’on ne saurait tolérer ; inadmissible, inacceptable. | Pluriel de intolérable. |
Same sound, different letters: intolérable vs intolérables
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters.
Homophone desk: intolérable vs intolérables
This is the hard kind. intolérable and intolérables are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁabl\) 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) - “intolérable” sits inside “intolérables”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
intolérable is recorded at frequency rank #17,169, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁabl\. intolérables is at rank #37,387, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁabl\.
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 54556, this pair ranks #133,226 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intolérable vs intolérables
Shared letters: abeilnorté. Private to "intolérable": -. Private to "intolérables": s.
"intolérable" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV · "intolérables" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intolérable" and "intolérables" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "intolérable" vs "intolérables" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "intolérable" / "intolérables". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "intolérable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intolérables" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #133,226 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intolérable" and "intolérables" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intolérable vs intolérance". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #133,226 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.