dégrader

\de.ɡʁa.de\

/\de.ɡʁa.de\/ verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“dégrader” has 13 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #17,686. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,686
frequency rank, French
5,307
“D” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dépouiller, destituer quelqu’un d’une manière infamante de son grade, de sa dignité, de son emploi, etc.

Corpus desk

Index FR-degrader · dégrader · French

dégrader · rank #17,686 · 13 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,686
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,307
  • PHOTO-FINISH délivrée

Nearest frequency peer: délivrée (+1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « dégrader »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « dégrader » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

dégrader vs déraper
75% similar
dégrader vs dégager
75% similar
dégrader vs dégradée
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for dégrader
PropertyValue
Headworddégrader
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\de.ɡʁa.de\
Letters8
Frequency rank#17,686
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « dégrader »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.dégraderse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'échelle est logarithmique (chaque tic ≈ 10× plus rare). Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « délivrée » (#17,687), « déficits » (#17,684), « déprimé » (#17,688). Parmi 5,307 lemmes en « D », « dégrader » est au #17,686. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around dégrader (IPA \de.ɡʁa.de\), averb. Corpus frequency is #17,686 among 5,307 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for dégrader, with forms such as "ddégrader", "degrader", and "dgérader". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "déraper", "dégager", "dégradée", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is dégrader, spelled D-É-G-R-A-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dépouiller, destituer quelqu’un d’une manière infamante de son grade, de sa dignité, de son emploi, etc.
  2. 2
    Avilir.
  3. 3
    Perdre de son aptitude à fournir du travail, en parlant de toute forme d’énergie.
  4. 4
    Détériorer ; endommager.
  5. 5
    Décomposer.
  6. 6
    Faire varier progressivement la lumière, la couleur, en en diminuant l’intensité.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how dégrader appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Dégrader un soldat.
  2. Dégrader un membre de l’ordre de la Légion d’honneur.

Antonyms

promouvoir

This word in other languages

demote(English)degradar(Español)degradieren(Deutsch)degradar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddégrader
  • degrader
  • dgérader
  • dégarder
  • déggrader
  • dégradder
  • dégraderr
  • dégradre
  • dégraedr
  • dégrdaer
  • dégrrader
  • dérgader
  • édgrader

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dégrader - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ddégrader1degrader1dgérader2dégarder2déggrader1dégradder1dégraderr1dégradre2
Edit distance from "dégrader"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dégrader"?
"dégrader" is spelled D-É-G-R-A-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is \de.ɡʁa.de\.
What does "dégrader" mean?
As a verb, "dégrader" means: Dépouiller, destituer quelqu’un d’une manière infamante de son grade, de sa dignité, de son emploi, etc.
What words are commonly confused with "dégrader"?
"dégrader" is commonly confused with "déraper", "dégager", "dégradée". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dégrader"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dégrader" is \de.ɡʁa.de\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "dégrader" come from?
"dégrader" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dégrader", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

délivrée#17,687déficits#17,684dévoilée#17,691disputée#17,676

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

crochets13 variantshivernale13 variantsBruxellois13 variantsmarqueurs13 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list