négligée vs négligés, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#30,723
“négligée” frequency rank: #38,452
“négligés” frequency rank: 69175
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	négligée	négligés
Definition	Féminin singulier de négligé.	Masculin pluriel de négligé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set négligée and négligés apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

négligée

8 ch

négligés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. négligée and négligés are pronounced identically (\ne.ɡli.ʒe\) 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 a single letter - e in “négligée” becomes s in “négligés”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 69175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

négligée is recorded at frequency rank #30,723, classified as anadj, pronounced \ne.ɡli.ʒe\. négligés is at rank #38,452, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ne.ɡli.ʒe\.

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 69175, this pair ranks #56,173 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of négligée vs négligés

Shared letters: gilné. Private to "négligée": e. Private to "négligés": s.

"négligée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV · "négligés" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequency comparison

négligée#30,723

négligés#38,452

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "négligée" and "négligés" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\ne.ɡli.ʒe\), 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, "négligée" or "négligés"?

"négligée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,723 in our French list, against #38,452 for "négligés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering négligée vs négligés

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 “négligée” entry
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