Which to use
“nébuleuse” is a noun and “nébuleuses” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,355
- “nébuleuse” frequency rank
- #44,601
- “nébuleuses” frequency rank
- 66956
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | nébuleuse | nébuleuses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nuage de matière cosmique tantôt obscure, tantôt lumineuse, assez souvent associée à des étoiles. | Féminin pluriel de nébuleux. |
Same sound, different letters: nébuleuse vs nébuleuses
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. nébuleuse runs 9 letters (CVCVCVVCV) against nébuleuses's 10 (CVCVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - nébuleuse and nébuleuses
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: nébuleuse and nébuleuses carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ne.by.løz\. 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) - “nébuleuse” sits inside “nébuleuses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
nébuleuse is recorded at frequency rank #22,355, classified as anoun, pronounced \ne.by.løz\. nébuleuses is at rank #44,601, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ne.by.løz\.
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 66956, this pair ranks #65,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of nébuleuse vs nébuleuses
Shared letters: belnsué. Private to "nébuleuse": -. Private to "nébuleuses": -.
"nébuleuse" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCV · "nébuleuses" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "nébuleuse" for "nébuleuses" ever safe?
Which is more common, "nébuleuse" or "nébuleuses"?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "nébuleuse" / "nébuleuses". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "nébuleuse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "nébuleuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "nébuleuse" and "nébuleuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "nébuleuse vs nébuleux". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #65,550 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.