valeursvsvioleursWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,127
“valeurs” frequency rank
#20,314
“violeurs” frequency rank
21441
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature valeurs violeurs
Definition Pluriel de valeur. Pluriel de violeur.

Where the eye mixes valeurs and violeurs

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. valeurs runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against violeurs's 8 (CVVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
valeurs
8 ch
violeurs

Look-alike desk: valeurs vs violeurs

A purely visual mix-up. valeurs (\va.lœʁ\) and violeurs (\vjɔ.lœʁ\) 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 21441, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

valeurs is recorded at frequency rank #1,127, classified as anoun, pronounced \va.lœʁ\. violeurs is at rank #20,314, tagged as anoun, pronounced \vjɔ.lœʁ\.

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 21441, this pair ranks #363,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of valeurs vs violeurs

Shared letters: elrsuv. Private to "valeurs": a. Private to "violeurs": io.

"valeurs" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC  ·  "violeurs" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • valeursavleurs · vaelurs · valerus · valeurrs · valeurss · valeusr · valleurs · valuers
  • violeursivoleurs · viloeurs · vioelurs · violerus · violeurrs · violeurss · violeusr · violleurs

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "valeurs" for "violeurs" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\va.lœʁ\ versus \vjɔ.lœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "valeurs" or "violeurs"?
"valeurs" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,127 in our French list, against #20,314 for "violeurs". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "valeurs" and "violeurs" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "valeurs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "violeurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #363,154 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "valeurs" and "violeurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "violés vs violeurs". 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 #363,154 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