maladroitvsmaladroitsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,310
“maladroit” frequency rank
#33,772
“maladroits” frequency rank
48082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature maladroit maladroits
Definition Qui manque d’adresse. Masculin pluriel de maladroit.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maladroit and maladroits apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
maladroit
10 ch
maladroits

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. maladroit and maladroits are pronounced identically (\ma.la.dʁwa\) 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) - “maladroit” sits inside “maladroits”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

maladroit is recorded at frequency rank #14,310, classified as anadj, pronounced \ma.la.dʁwa\. maladroits is at rank #33,772, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ma.la.dʁwa\.

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 48082, this pair ranks #181,809 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of maladroit vs maladroits

Shared letters: adilmort. Private to "maladroit": -. Private to "maladroits": s.

"maladroit" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC  ·  "maladroits" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • maladroitamladroit · maaldroit · maladdroit · maladorit · maladriot · maladroitt · maladroti · maladrroit
  • maladroitsamladroits · maaldroits · maladdroits · maladorits · maladriots · maladroist · maladroitss · maladroitts

Frequency comparison

maladroit#14,310
maladroits#33,772

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "maladroit" and "maladroits" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ma.la.dʁwa\), 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, "maladroit" or "maladroits"?
"maladroit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,310 in our French list, against #33,772 for "maladroits". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering maladroit vs maladroits

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 “maladroit” 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