Which to use
“intolérable” is an adjective and “intolérance” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,169
- “intolérable” frequency rank
- #14,710
- “intolérance” frequency rank
- 31879
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | intolérable | intolérance |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qu’on ne saurait tolérer ; inadmissible, inacceptable. | Défaut de tolérance, disposition à violenter, à persécuter ceux avec lesquels on diffère d’opinions ou de culture. |
Where the eye mixes intolérable and intolérance
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between intolérable and intolérance
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: intolérable is \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁabl\ while intolérance is \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁɑ̃s\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31879, 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\. intolérance is at rank #14,710, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛ̃.tɔ.le.ʁɑ̃s\.
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 31879, this pair ranks #300,992 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of intolérable vs intolérance
Shared letters: aeilnorté. Private to "intolérable": b. Private to "intolérance": c.
"intolérable" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV · "intolérance" · 11 letters · shape VCCVCVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "intolérable" and "intolérance" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "intolérable" vs "intolérance" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "intolérable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "intolérance" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #300,992 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "intolérable" and "intolérance" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "intolérance vs intolérant". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #300,992 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.