Which to use
“déballer” and “décaler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,904
- “déballer” frequency rank
- #25,977
- “décaler” frequency rank
- 61881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déballer | décaler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Extraire d’une balle, d’un paquet, d’une caisse, etc., ce qu’ils contiennent. | Enlever la cale à ; changer l’équilibre, l’aplomb. |
Where the eye mixes déballer and décaler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. déballer runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against décaler's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: déballer vs décaler
A purely visual mix-up. déballer (\de.ba.le\) and décaler (\de.ka.le\) 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 61881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déballer is recorded at frequency rank #35,904, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ba.le\. décaler is at rank #25,977, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ka.le\.
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 61881, this pair ranks #89,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of déballer vs décaler
Shared letters: adelré. Private to "déballer": b. Private to "décaler": c.
"déballer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "décaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "déballer" and "décaler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "déballer" or "décaler" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "déballer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décaler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #89,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déballer" and "décaler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décaler vs décèle". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #89,942 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.