obsolètevsobsolètesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,354
“obsolète” frequency rank
#26,460
“obsolètes” frequency rank
45814
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obsolète obsolètes
Definition Qui n’est plus utilisé, en parlant d’un mot, d’une locution. Pluriel de obsolète.

Same sound, different letters: obsolète vs obsolètes

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters.

8 ch
obsolète
9 ch
obsolètes

Homophone desk: obsolète vs obsolètes

This is the hard kind. obsolète and obsolètes are pronounced identically (\ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\) 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) - “obsolète” sits inside “obsolètes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obsolète is recorded at frequency rank #19,354, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\. obsolètes is at rank #26,460, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\.

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 45814, this pair ranks #199,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of obsolète vs obsolètes

Shared letters: belostè. Private to "obsolète": -. Private to "obsolètes": -.

"obsolète" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "obsolètes" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "obsolète" and "obsolètes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɔp.sɔ.lɛt\), 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, "obsolète" or "obsolètes"?
"obsolète" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,354 in our French list, against #26,460 for "obsolètes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

"obsolète" and "obsolètes" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obsolète" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "obsolètes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #199,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics

Confusion rank #199,825 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