Which to use
“débile” is an adjective and “devine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,550
- “débile” frequency rank
- #10,485
- “devine” frequency rank
- 16035
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débile | devine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faible, qui manque de forces, de vigueur. | Variante de devineresse. |
Where the eye mixes débile and devine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: débile vs devine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: débile is \de.bil\ while devine is \də.vin\. 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 16035, 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\. devine is at rank #10,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.vin\.
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 16035, this pair ranks #389,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of débile vs devine
Shared letters: dei. Private to "débile": blé. Private to "devine": nv.
"débile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "devine" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- devine ← ddevine · deivne · devien · devinne · devnie · devvine · dveine · edvine
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "débile" and "devine" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "débile" or "devine"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "débile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,688 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débile" and "devine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devine 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 #389,688 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.