Which to use
“martyr” is a noun and “martyrs” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,419
- “martyr” frequency rank
- #11,615
- “martyrs” frequency rank
- 24034
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | martyr | martyrs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Personne qui se laisse tuer (et souvent torturer) pour porter témoignage d'une foi chrétienne inébranlable. | Pluriel de martyr. |
Same sound, different letters: martyr vs martyrs
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. martyr runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against martyrs's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - martyr and martyrs
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: martyr and martyrs carry the same recorded pronunciation, \maʁ.tiʁ\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “martyr” sits inside “martyrs”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24034, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
martyr is recorded at frequency rank #12,419, classified as anoun, pronounced \maʁ.tiʁ\. martyrs is at rank #11,615, tagged as anadj, pronounced \maʁ.tiʁ\.
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 24034, this pair ranks #349,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of martyr vs martyrs
Shared letters: amrty. Private to "martyr": -. Private to "martyrs": s.
"martyr" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "martyrs" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "martyr" and "martyrs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "martyr" or "martyrs"?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "martyr" / "martyrs". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "martyr" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "martyrs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #349,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "martyr" and "martyrs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "martyrisé vs martyrs". 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 #349,035 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.