Which to use
“malfaiteur” is an adjective and “malfaiteurs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,541
- “malfaiteur” frequency rank
- #21,686
- “malfaiteurs” frequency rank
- 65227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | malfaiteur | malfaiteurs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui fait le mal. | Pluriel de malfaiteur. |
Same sound, different letters: malfaiteur vs malfaiteurs
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters. malfaiteur runs 10 letters (CVCCVVCVVC) against malfaiteurs's 11 (CVCCVVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - malfaiteur and malfaiteurs
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: malfaiteur and malfaiteurs carry the same recorded pronunciation, \mal.fɛ.tœʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “malfaiteur” sits inside “malfaiteurs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 65227, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
malfaiteur is recorded at frequency rank #43,541, classified as anadj, pronounced \mal.fɛ.tœʁ\. malfaiteurs is at rank #21,686, tagged as anoun, pronounced \mal.fɛ.tœʁ\.
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 65227, this pair ranks #73,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of malfaiteur vs malfaiteurs
Shared letters: aefilmrtu. Private to "malfaiteur": -. Private to "malfaiteurs": s.
"malfaiteur" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCVVC · "malfaiteurs" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- malfaiteur ← amlfaiteur · maflaiteur · malafiteur · malfaietur · malfaiteru · malfaiteurr · malfaitteur · malfaituer
- malfaiteurs ← amlfaiteurs · maflaiteurs · malafiteurs · malfaieturs · malfaiterus · malfaiteurrs · malfaiteurss · malfaiteusr
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "malfaiteur" and "malfaiteurs" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "malfaiteur" vs "malfaiteurs" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "malfaiteur" / "malfaiteurs". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "malfaiteur" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "malfaiteurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #73,275 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.