irréversiblevsirréversiblesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#19,880
“irréversible” frequency rank
#35,562
“irréversibles” frequency rank
55442
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature irréversible irréversibles
Definition Qui ne peut pas être annulé, pour lequel on ne peut pas revenir en arrière. Pluriel de irréversible.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set irréversible and irréversibles apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
irréversible
13 ch
irréversibles

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. irréversible and irréversibles are pronounced identically (\i.ʁe.vɛʁ.sibl\) 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) - “irréversible” sits inside “irréversibles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55442, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

irréversible is recorded at frequency rank #19,880, classified as anadj, pronounced \i.ʁe.vɛʁ.sibl\. irréversibles is at rank #35,562, tagged as anadj, pronounced \i.ʁe.vɛʁ.sibl\.

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 55442, this pair ranks #127,425 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of irréversible vs irréversibles

Shared letters: beilrsvé. Private to "irréversible": -. Private to "irréversibles": -.

"irréversible" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVCCV  ·  "irréversibles" · 13 letters · shape VCCVCVCCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

irréversible#19,880
irréversibles#35,562

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "irréversible" and "irréversibles" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\i.ʁe.vɛʁ.sibl\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "irréversible" or "irréversibles"?
"irréversible" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,880 in our French list, against #35,562 for "irréversibles". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering irréversible vs irréversibles

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 “irréversible” 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