risquée vs risquées, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#24,368
“risquée” frequency rank: #40,472
“risquées” frequency rank: 64840
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	risquée	risquées
Definition	Féminin singulier de risqué.	Féminin pluriel de risqué.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set risquée and risquées apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

risquée

8 ch

risquées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. risquée and risquées are pronounced identically (\ʁis.ke\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “risquée” sits inside “risquées”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

risquée is recorded at frequency rank #24,368, classified as anadj, pronounced \ʁis.ke\. risquées is at rank #40,472, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁis.ke\.

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 64840, this pair ranks #75,107 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of risquée vs risquées

Shared letters: eiqrsué. Private to "risquée": -. Private to "risquées": -.

"risquée" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV · "risquées" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC

Frequency comparison

risquée#24,368

risquées#40,472

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "risquée" and "risquées" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "risquée" or "risquées"?

"risquée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,368 in our French list, against #40,472 for "risquées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering risquée vs risquées

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 “risquée” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable