Which to use
“débiles” and “démêlés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,362
- “débiles” frequency rank
- #30,137
- “démêlés” frequency rank
- 42499
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débiles | démêlés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de débile. | Masculin pluriel de démêlé. |
Where the eye mixes débiles and démêlés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. débiles and démêlés 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 démêlés
A purely visual mix-up. débiles (\de.bil\) and démêlés (\de.me.le\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42499, 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\. démêlés is at rank #30,137, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.me.le\.
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 42499, this pair ranks #225,148 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débiles vs démêlés
Shared letters: dlsé. Private to "débiles": bei. Private to "démêlés": mê.
"débiles" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "démêlés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "débiles" and "démêlés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "débiles" or "démêlés" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "débiles" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démêlés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #225,148 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débiles" and "démêlés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs démêlés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #225,148 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.