Which to use
“débile” and “docile” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,550
- “débile” frequency rank
- #24,939
- “docile” frequency rank
- 30489
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débile | docile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faible, qui manque de forces, de vigueur. | Qui a de la disposition à se laisser conduire et diriger. Qui obéit facilement. Caractère docile. |
Where the eye mixes débile and docile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. débile and docile 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 docile
A purely visual mix-up. débile (\de.bil\) and docile (\dɔ.sil\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30489, 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\. docile is at rank #24,939, tagged as anadj, pronounced \dɔ.sil\.
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 30489, this pair ranks #309,982 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débile vs docile
Shared letters: deil. Private to "débile": bé. Private to "docile": co.
"débile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "docile" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- docile ← dcoile · ddocile · doccile · dociel · docille · doclie · doicle · odcile
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "débile" for "docile" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "débile" or "docile" show up more?
After this comparison
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 "docile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #309,982 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débile" and "docile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs docile". 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 #309,982 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.