Which to use
“subtilité” and “subtilités” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,075
- “subtilité” frequency rank
- #23,383
- “subtilités” frequency rank
- 41458
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | subtilité | subtilités |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Caractère de ce qui est subtil, aux divers sens du mot. | Pluriel de subtilité. |
Same sound, different letters: subtilité vs subtilités
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. subtilité runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCV) against subtilités's 10 (CVCCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - subtilité / subtilités
This is the hard kind. subtilité and subtilités are pronounced identically (\syp.ti.li.te\) 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) - “subtilité” sits inside “subtilités”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41458, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
subtilité is recorded at frequency rank #18,075, classified as anoun, pronounced \syp.ti.li.te\. subtilités is at rank #23,383, tagged as anoun, pronounced \syp.ti.li.te\.
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 41458, this pair ranks #232,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of subtilité vs subtilités
Shared letters: bilstué. Private to "subtilité": -. Private to "subtilités": -.
"subtilité" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV · "subtilités" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "subtilité" and "subtilités" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "subtilité" or "subtilités" show up more?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "subtilité" / "subtilités". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "subtilité" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "subtilités" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,944 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "subtilité" and "subtilités" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "subtiles vs subtilités". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #232,944 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.