Which to use
“semelles” is a noun and “sexuelles” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,808
- “semelles” frequency rank
- #4,892
- “sexuelles” frequency rank
- 30700
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | semelles | sexuelles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de semelle. | Féminin pluriel de sexuel. |
Where the eye mixes semelles and sexuelles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. semelles runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against sexuelles's 9 (CVCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: semelles vs sexuelles
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: semelles is \sə.mɛl\ while sexuelles is \sɛk.sɥɛl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
semelles is recorded at frequency rank #25,808, classified as anoun, pronounced \sə.mɛl\. sexuelles is at rank #4,892, tagged as anadj, pronounced \sɛk.sɥɛl\.
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 30700, this pair ranks #308,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of semelles vs sexuelles
Shared letters: els. Private to "semelles": m. Private to "sexuelles": ux.
"semelles" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "sexuelles" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "semelles" for "sexuelles" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "semelles" or "sexuelles" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "semelles" and "sexuelles" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "semelles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sexuelles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #308,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "semelles" and "sexuelles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "scellés vs semelles". 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 #308,527 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.