obsessionnelvsobsessionnelleWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,892
“obsessionnel” frequency rank
#48,076
“obsessionnelle” frequency rank
88968
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obsessionnel obsessionnelle
Definition Relatif à l'obsession, aux pensées intrusives. Féminin singulier de obsessionnel.

Where the eye mixes obsessionnel and obsessionnelle

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 12 letters in sequence. obsessionnel runs 12 letters (VCCVCCVVCCVC) against obsessionnelle's 14 (VCCVCCVVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

12 ch
obsessionnel
14 ch
obsessionnelle

Visual trap between obsessionnel and obsessionnelle

A purely visual mix-up. obsessionnel (\ob.sɛ.sjɔ.nɛl\) and obsessionnelle (\ɔp.se.sjɔ.nɛl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “obsessionnel” sits inside “obsessionnelle”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88968, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obsessionnel is recorded at frequency rank #40,892, classified as anadj, pronounced \ob.sɛ.sjɔ.nɛl\. obsessionnelle is at rank #48,076, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɔp.se.sjɔ.nɛl\.

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 88968, this pair ranks #6,333 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of obsessionnel vs obsessionnelle

Shared letters: beilnos. Private to "obsessionnel": -. Private to "obsessionnelle": -.

"obsessionnel" · 12 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCCVC  ·  "obsessionnelle" · 14 letters · shape VCCVCCVVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obsessionnel ← bosessionnel · obbsessionnel · obesssionnel · obsesionnel · obsesisonnel · obsessinonel · obsessionel · obsessionenl
  • obsessionnelle ← bosessionnelle · obbsessionnelle · obesssionnelle · obsesionnelle · obsesisonnelle · obsessinonelle · obsessionelle · obsessionenlle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "obsessionnel" for "obsessionnelle" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ob.sɛ.sjɔ.nɛl\ versus \ɔp.se.sjɔ.nɛl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "obsessionnel" or "obsessionnelle"?
"obsessionnel" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,892 in our French list, against #48,076 for "obsessionnelle". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obsessionnel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obsessionnelle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,333 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 #6,333 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list