Which to use
“laïc” and “laïques” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,892
- “laïc” frequency rank
- #21,989
- “laïques” frequency rank
- 41881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | laïc | laïques |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualifie le caractère des personnes ou des choses ne faisant pas partie d’une institution religieuse. | Féminin pluriel de laïc. |
Same sound, different letters: laïc vs laïques
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 3 letters. laïc runs 4 letters (CVCC) against laïques's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: laïc vs laïques
This is the hard kind. laïc and laïques are pronounced identically (\la.ik\) 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 3 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
laïc is recorded at frequency rank #19,892, classified as anadj, pronounced \la.ik\. laïques is at rank #21,989, tagged as anadj, pronounced \la.ik\.
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 41881, this pair ranks #229,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of laïc vs laïques
Shared letters: alï. Private to "laïc": c. Private to "laïques": eqsu.
"laïc" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "laïques" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "laïc" for "laïques" ever safe?
Frequency check: "laïc" vs "laïques" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
"laïc" and "laïques" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "laïc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "laïques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #229,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "laïc" and "laïques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "lago vs laïc". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #229,829 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.