Which to use
“joli” and “jolis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,426
- “joli” frequency rank
- #10,182
- “jolis” frequency rank
- 12608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | joli | jolis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a de la grâce, de l’agrément. | Masculin pluriel de joli. |
Same sound, different letters: joli vs jolis
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. joli runs 4 letters (CVCV) against jolis's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - joli and jolis
This is the hard kind. joli and jolis are pronounced identically (\ʒɔ.li\) 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) - “joli” sits inside “jolis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
joli is recorded at frequency rank #2,426, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʒɔ.li\. jolis is at rank #10,182, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʒɔ.li\.
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 12608, this pair ranks #404,536 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of joli vs jolis
Shared letters: ijlo. Private to "joli": -. Private to "jolis": s.
"joli" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "jolis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "joli" and "jolis" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "joli" or "jolis"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "joli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "jolis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #404,536 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "joli" and "jolis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jolis vs Josie". 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 #404,536 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.