Which to use
“débile” is an adjective and “device” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,550
- “débile” frequency rank
- #43,381
- “device” frequency rank
- 48931
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débile | device |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faible, qui manque de forces, de vigueur. | Dispositif, appareil. |
Where the eye mixes débile and device
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. débile and device follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: débile vs device
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: débile is \de.bil\ while device is \dɪˈvaɪs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48931, 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\. device is at rank #43,381, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɪˈvaɪs\.
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 48931, this pair ranks #174,907 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débile vs device
Shared letters: dei. Private to "débile": blé. Private to "device": cv.
"débile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "device" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- device ← ddevice · deivce · devcie · devicce · deviec · devvice · dveice · edvice
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "débile" for "device" ever safe?
Frequency check: "débile" vs "device" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "débile" and "device" 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 "device" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #174,907 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débile" and "device" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "device vs devins". 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 #174,907 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.