récalcitrantvsrécalcitrantsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,174
“récalcitrant” frequency rank
#38,026
“récalcitrants” frequency rank
86200
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature récalcitrant récalcitrants
Definition Qui résiste avec opiniâtreté ; qui ne se laisse pas faire. Masculin pluriel de récalcitrant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set récalcitrant and récalcitrants apart are highlighted. They share 12 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
récalcitrant
13 ch
récalcitrants

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

récalcitrant and récalcitrants are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “récalcitrant” sits inside “récalcitrants”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

récalcitrant is recorded at frequency rank #48,174, classified as anadj. récalcitrants is at rank #38,026, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.kal.sit.ʁɑ̃\.

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 86200, this pair ranks #10,088 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of récalcitrant vs récalcitrants

Shared letters: acilnrté. Private to "récalcitrant": -. Private to "récalcitrants": s.

"récalcitrant" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVCC  ·  "récalcitrants" · 13 letters · shape CVCVCCVCCVCCC

Frequency comparison

récalcitrant#48,174
récalcitrants#38,026

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "récalcitrant" and "récalcitrants" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “récalcitrant” sits inside “récalcitrants”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "récalcitrant" or "récalcitrants"?
"récalcitrants" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,026 in our French list, against #48,174 for "récalcitrant". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering récalcitrant vs récalcitrants

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “récalcitrant” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list