Which to use
“missionnaire” and “missionnaires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,215
- “missionnaire” frequency rank
- #13,635
- “missionnaires” frequency rank
- 26850
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | missionnaire | missionnaires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a pour but de propager une foi ou une doctrine, qui a une mission. | Pluriel de missionnaire. |
Same sound, different letters: missionnaire vs missionnaires
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 12 letters. missionnaire runs 12 letters (CVCCVVCCVVCV) against missionnaires's 13 (CVCCVVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - missionnaire / missionnaires
This is the hard kind. missionnaire and missionnaires are pronounced identically (\mi.sjɔ.nɛʁ\) 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) - “missionnaire” sits inside “missionnaires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26850, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
missionnaire is recorded at frequency rank #13,215, classified as anadj, pronounced \mi.sjɔ.nɛʁ\. missionnaires is at rank #13,635, tagged as anadj, pronounced \mi.sjɔ.nɛʁ\.
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 26850, this pair ranks #332,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of missionnaire vs missionnaires
Shared letters: aeimnors. Private to "missionnaire": -. Private to "missionnaires": -.
"missionnaire" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVVCV · "missionnaires" · 13 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- missionnaire ← imssionnaire · misionnaire · misisonnaire · missinonaire · missionaire · missionanire · missionnaier · missionnairre
- missionnaires ← imssionnaires · misionnaires · misisonnaires · missinonaires · missionaires · missionanires · missionnaiers · missionnairess
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "missionnaire" and "missionnaires" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "missionnaire" or "missionnaires" show up more?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "missionnaire" / "missionnaires". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "missionnaire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "missionnaires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #332,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "missionnaire" and "missionnaires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "millionnaires vs missionnaires". 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 #332,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.