dérober
\de.ʁɔ.be\
The verdict
“dérober” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #23,527 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #23,527
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Enlever ou voler en cachette.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dérober |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \de.ʁɔ.be\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #23,527 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dérober” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for dérober is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \de.ʁɔ.be\. Corpus data places it at rank #23,527 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for dérober, with forms such as "ddérober", "derober", and "dréober". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "déroge", "dévorer", "déroger", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is dérober, spelled D-É-R-O-B-E-R.
Definition
- 1Enlever ou voler en cachette.
- 2Prendre dans l’œuvre d’un autre, une pensée, un passage, quelques vers et qui se les approprie, en parlant d’un auteur.
- 3Prendre des moments sur les heures que l’on consacre à ses affaires, à ses occupations ordinaires, en parlant de ce temps pris.
- 4Cacher ; empêcher de voir ou de découvrir.
- 5Soustraire ; celer.
- 6Éviter un obstacle au dernier moment en s’échappant sur un côté (en parlant d’un cheval).
- 7Se soustraire à quelque chose de déplaisant.
- 8Se retirer d’une compagnie sans dire mot, sans être aperçu.
- 9Échapper volontairement à la discussion, la fuir ou esquiver une difficulté.
- 10S’échapper de dessous celui qui le monte, tout à coup, par un mouvement irrégulier, en parlant d’un cheval.
- 11Vaciller, en peinant à soutenir, en parlant des jambes.
- 12Dans un duel, adopter une attitude défensive plutôt qu’offensive.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddérober,derober,dréober,déorber,dérboer,dérobber,déroberr,dérobre,déroebr,dérrober,édrober
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dérober - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "dérober"?
What does "dérober" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dérober"?
How do you pronounce "dérober"?
What language does "dérober" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “dérober”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is D-É-R-O-B-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \de.ʁɔ.be\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “déroge” - see the side-by-side comparison. dérober vs déroge
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.