Which to use
“volatile” is a noun and “volatiles” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,852
- “volatile” frequency rank
- #31,295
- “volatiles” frequency rank
- 57147
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | volatile | volatiles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Animal capable de voler. | Féminin pluriel de volatil. |
Same sound, different letters: volatile vs volatiles
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 8 letters. volatile runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against volatiles's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - volatile and volatiles
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: volatile and volatiles carry the same recorded pronunciation, \vɔ.la.til\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “volatile” sits inside “volatiles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
volatile is recorded at frequency rank #25,852, classified as anoun, pronounced \vɔ.la.til\. volatiles is at rank #31,295, tagged as anadj, pronounced \vɔ.la.til\.
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 57147, this pair ranks #116,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of volatile vs volatiles
Shared letters: aeilotv. Private to "volatile": -. Private to "volatiles": s.
"volatile" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "volatiles" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "volatile" for "volatiles" ever safe?
Frequency check: "volatile" vs "volatiles" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "volatile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "volatiles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #116,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "volatile" and "volatiles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "volatil vs volatiles". 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 #116,761 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.