Which to use
“débiles” is an adjective and “délices” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,362
- “débiles” frequency rank
- #20,428
- “délices” frequency rank
- 32790
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débiles | délices |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de débile. | Plaisir extrême. |
Where the eye mixes débiles and délices
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. débiles and délices follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between débiles and délices
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: débiles is \de.bil\ while délices is \de.lis\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 32790, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débiles is recorded at frequency rank #12,362, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.bil\. délices is at rank #20,428, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.lis\.
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 32790, this pair ranks #294,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débiles vs délices
Shared letters: deilsé. Private to "débiles": b. Private to "délices": c.
"débiles" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "délices" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "débiles" and "délices" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "débiles" vs "délices" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "débiles" and "délices" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "débiles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délices" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #294,947 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débiles" and "délices" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délices vs délier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #294,947 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.