reflexvsréflexesConfusable pair

Quick tell: reflex is a noun, réflexes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“reflex” is a noun and “réflexes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,320
“reflex” frequency rank
#14,353
“réflexes” frequency rank
42673
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature reflex réflexes
Definition Type d’appareil photographique caractérisé par l’utilisation d’un objectif unique servant à la fois à la prise de vue et à la visée grâce à un système de miroir mobile (ou parfois avec deux objectifs, l’un servant à la prise de vue, l’autre à la visée). Pluriel de réflexe.

Same sound, different letters: reflex vs réflexes

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters.

6 ch
reflex
8 ch
réflexes

Ear matches; page differs - reflex and réflexes

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: reflex and réflexes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \ʁe.flɛks\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42673, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

reflex is recorded at frequency rank #28,320, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁe.flɛks\. réflexes is at rank #14,353, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.flɛks\.

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 42673, this pair ranks #223,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of reflex vs réflexes

Shared letters: eflrx. Private to "reflex": -. Private to "réflexes": .

"reflex" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "réflexes" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • reflexerflex · refelx · refflex · reflexx · refllex · reflxe · relfex · rfelex

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "reflex" for "réflexes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "reflex" is a noun and "réflexes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "reflex" vs "réflexes" - which ranks higher?
"réflexes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,353 in our French list, against #28,320 for "reflex". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "reflex" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "réflexes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #223,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "reflex" and "réflexes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rafler vs reflex". 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 #223,835 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