terroristevsterroristesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,879
“terroriste” frequency rank
#3,574
“terroristes” frequency rank
7453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature terroriste terroristes
Definition Relatif à la Terreur et à ses partisans et activistes. Pluriel de terroriste.

Same sound, different letters: terroriste vs terroristes

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 10 letters. terroriste runs 10 letters (CVCCVCVCCV) against terroristes's 11 (CVCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
terroriste
11 ch
terroristes

Ear matches; page differs - terroriste and terroristes

This is the hard kind. terroriste and terroristes are pronounced identically (\tɛ.ʁɔ.ʁist\) 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) - “terroriste” sits inside “terroristes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

terroriste is recorded at frequency rank #3,879, classified as anadj, pronounced \tɛ.ʁɔ.ʁist\. terroristes is at rank #3,574, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tɛ.ʁɔ.ʁist\.

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 7453, this pair ranks #423,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of terroriste vs terroristes

Shared letters: eiorst. Private to "terroriste": -. Private to "terroristes": -.

"terroriste" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV  ·  "terroristes" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • terroriste ← etrroriste · teroriste · terorriste · terroirste · terroriset · terrorisste · terroristte · terroritse
  • terroristes ← etrroristes · teroristes · terorristes · terroirstes · terrorisets · terrorisstes · terroristess · terroristse

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "terroriste" and "terroristes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\tɛ.ʁɔ.ʁist\), 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 "terroriste" or "terroristes" show up more?
"terroristes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,574 in our French list, against #3,879 for "terroriste". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "terroriste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "terroristes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #423,117 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "terroriste" and "terroristes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "terrorise vs terroriste". 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 #423,117 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