Which to use
“débile” is an adjective and “débiter” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,550
- “débile” frequency rank
- #36,810
- “débiter” frequency rank
- 42360
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débile | débiter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faible, qui manque de forces, de vigueur. | Vendre d’une façon continue, répétée, surtout au détail. |
Where the eye mixes débile and débiter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. débile runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against débiter's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between débile and débiter
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: débile is \de.bil\ while débiter is \de.bi.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débile is recorded at frequency rank #5,550, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.bil\. débiter is at rank #36,810, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.bi.te\.
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 42360, this pair ranks #226,189 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débile vs débiter
Shared letters: bdeié. Private to "débile": l. Private to "débiter": rt.
"débile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "débiter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "débile" for "débiter" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "débile" or "débiter" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "débile" and "débiter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "débile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "débiter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #226,189 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débile" and "débiter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débiter vs désister". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #226,189 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.