stimulivsstimulusWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,028
“stimuli” frequency rank
#33,476
“stimulus” frequency rank
66504
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature stimuli stimulus
Definition Pluriel de stimulus. Tout phénomène externe qui a une influence sur un système, en déclenchant ou modifiant un phénomène interne.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set stimuli and stimulus apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
stimuli
8 ch
stimulus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. stimuli (\sti.my.li\) and stimulus (\sti.my.lys\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66504, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

stimuli is recorded at frequency rank #33,028, classified as anoun, pronounced \sti.my.li\. stimulus is at rank #33,476, tagged as anoun, pronounced \sti.my.lys\.

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 66504, this pair ranks #67,518 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of stimuli vs stimulus

Shared letters: ilmstu. Private to "stimuli": -. Private to "stimulus": -.

"stimuli" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "stimulus" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • stimulisitmuli · sstimuli · stimlui · stimmuli · stimuil · stimulli · stiumli · stmiuli
  • stimulussitmulus · sstimulus · stimluus · stimmulus · stimullus · stimulsu · stimuluss · stimuuls

Frequency comparison

stimuli#33,028
stimulus#33,476

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "stimuli" and "stimulus" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\sti.my.li\ versus \sti.my.lys\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "stimuli" or "stimulus"?
"stimuli" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,028 in our French list, against #33,476 for "stimulus". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering stimuli vs stimulus

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 “stimuli” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list