Which to use
“profondes” and “profondeur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,223
- “profondes” frequency rank
- #2,949
- “profondeur” frequency rank
- 10172
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | profondes | profondeur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de profonde. | Étendue d’une chose considérée depuis la surface ou l’entrée jusqu’au fond. |
Where the eye mixes profondes and profondeur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. profondes runs 9 letters (CCVCVCCVC) against profondeur's 10 (CCVCVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses profondes with profondeur
A purely visual mix-up. profondes (\pʁɔ.fɔ̃d\) and profondeur (\pʁɔ.fɔ̃.dœʁ\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
profondes is recorded at frequency rank #7,223, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.fɔ̃d\. profondeur is at rank #2,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.fɔ̃.dœʁ\.
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 10172, this pair ranks #413,966 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of profondes vs profondeur
Shared letters: defnopr. Private to "profondes": s. Private to "profondeur": u.
"profondes" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC · "profondeur" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- profondes ← porfondes · pprofondes · prfoondes · proffondes · profnodes · profodnes · profonddes · profondess
- profondeur ← porfondeur · pprofondeur · prfoondeur · proffondeur · profnodeur · profodneur · profonddeur · profonderu
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "profondes" for "profondeur" ever safe?
Frequency check: "profondes" vs "profondeur" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "profondes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "profondeur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,966 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "profondes" and "profondeur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "profondes vs prolongés". Nearby pair
- 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 #413,966 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.