squelettevssquelettesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,674
“squelette” frequency rank
#21,776
“squelettes” frequency rank
34450
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature squelette squelettes
Definition Ensemble des os d’un organisme vertébré. Pluriel de squelette.

Same sound, different letters: squelette vs squelettes

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters.

9 ch
squelette
10 ch
squelettes

Same sound, different spelling - squelette / squelettes

This is the hard kind. squelette and squelettes are pronounced identically (\skə.lɛt\) and both work as anoun. 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) - “squelette” sits inside “squelettes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

squelette is recorded at frequency rank #12,674, classified as anoun, pronounced \skə.lɛt\. squelettes is at rank #21,776, tagged as anoun, pronounced \skə.lɛt\.

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 34450, this pair ranks #283,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of squelette vs squelettes

Shared letters: elqstu. Private to "squelette": -. Private to "squelettes": -.

"squelette" · 9 letters · shape CCVVCVCCV  ·  "squelettes" · 10 letters · shape CCVVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • squeletteqsuelette · sqeulette · sqquelette · squeeltte · squelete · squeletet · squellette · squeltete
  • squelettesqsuelettes · sqeulettes · sqquelettes · squeelttes · squeletes · squeletets · squelettess · squelettse

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "squelette" for "squelettes" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\skə.lɛt\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
In ordinary French text, does "squelette" or "squelettes" show up more?
"squelette" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,674 in our French list, against #21,776 for "squelettes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

"squelette" and "squelettes" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.

  • Full dictionary entry for "squelette" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "squelettes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #283,740 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #283,740 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