persécution vs persécutions

Which to use

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

#14,535
“persécution” frequency rank: #17,513
“persécutions” frequency rank: 32048
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	persécution	persécutions
Definition	Vexation, poursuite injuste et violente.	Pluriel de persécution.

Same sound, different letters: persécution vs persécutions

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 11 letters. persécution runs 11 letters (CVCCVCVCVVC) against persécutions's 12 (CVCCVCVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch

persécution

12 ch

persécutions

Ear matches; page differs - persécution and persécutions

This is the hard kind. persécution and persécutions are pronounced identically (\pɛʁ.se.ky.sjɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. 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) - “persécution” sits inside “persécutions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32048, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

persécution is recorded at frequency rank #14,535, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.se.ky.sjɔ̃\. persécutions is at rank #17,513, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.se.ky.sjɔ̃\.

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 32048, this pair ranks #299,874 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of persécution vs persécutions

Shared letters: ceinoprstué. Private to "persécution": -. Private to "persécutions": -.

"persécution" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVVC · "persécutions" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "persécution" and "persécutions" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\pɛʁ.se.ky.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Frequency check: "persécution" vs "persécutions" - which ranks higher?

"persécution" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,535 in our French list, against #17,513 for "persécutions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

Full dictionary entry for "persécution" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "persécutions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #299,874 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"persécution" and "persécutions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perfection vs persécution". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #299,874 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.