téméraire vs téméraires, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#21,197
“téméraire” frequency rank: #41,578
“téméraires” frequency rank: 62775
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	téméraire	téméraires
Definition	Qui est d’une hardiesse imprudente ou inconsidérée ; qui est hasardeux.	Pluriel de téméraire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set téméraire and téméraires apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

téméraire

10 ch

téméraires

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. téméraire and téméraires are pronounced identically (\te.me.ʁɛʁ\) 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) - “téméraire” sits inside “téméraires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62775, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

téméraire is recorded at frequency rank #21,197, classified as anadj, pronounced \te.me.ʁɛʁ\. téméraires is at rank #41,578, tagged as anadj, pronounced \te.me.ʁɛʁ\.

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 62775, this pair ranks #85,362 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of téméraire vs téméraires

Shared letters: aeimrté. Private to "téméraire": -. Private to "téméraires": s.

"téméraire" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVVCV · "téméraires" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVC

Frequency comparison

téméraire#21,197

téméraires#41,578

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "téméraire" and "téméraires" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\te.me.ʁɛʁ\), 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, "téméraire" or "téméraires"?

"téméraire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,197 in our French list, against #41,578 for "téméraires". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering téméraire vs téméraires

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