Which to use
“pulsations” and “pulsions” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,493
- “pulsations” frequency rank
- #16,455
- “pulsions” frequency rank
- 54948
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pulsations | pulsions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pulsation. | Pluriel de pulsion. |
Where the eye mixes pulsations and pulsions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. pulsations runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVVCC) against pulsions's 8 (CVCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pulsations and pulsions
A purely visual mix-up. pulsations (\pyl.sa.sjɔ̃\) and pulsions (\pyl.sjɔ̃\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54948, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pulsations is recorded at frequency rank #38,493, classified as anoun, pronounced \pyl.sa.sjɔ̃\. pulsions is at rank #16,455, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pyl.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 54948, this pair ranks #130,620 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pulsations vs pulsions
Shared letters: ilnopsu. Private to "pulsations": at. Private to "pulsions": -.
"pulsations" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVVCC · "pulsions" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pulsations ← plusations · ppulsations · pulastions · pullsations · pulsaitons · pulsatinos · pulsationns · pulsationss
- pulsions ← plusions · ppulsions · pulisons · pullsions · pulsinos · pulsionns · pulsionss · pulsiosn
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pulsations" for "pulsions" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pulsations" or "pulsions"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pulsations" and "pulsions" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pulsations" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pulsions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,620 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pulsations" and "pulsions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pulsation vs pulsations". 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 #130,620 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.