Which to use
“débiter” and “délier” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #36,810
- “débiter” frequency rank
- #44,997
- “délier” frequency rank
- 81807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débiter | délier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vendre d’une façon continue, répétée, surtout au détail. | Dégager de ce qui lie. |
Where the eye mixes débiter and délier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. débiter runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against délier's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between débiter and délier
A purely visual mix-up. débiter (\de.bi.te\) and délier (\de.lje\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débiter is recorded at frequency rank #36,810, classified as averb, pronounced \de.bi.te\. délier is at rank #44,997, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.lje\.
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 81807, this pair ranks #18,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of débiter vs délier
Shared letters: deiré. Private to "débiter": bt. Private to "délier": l.
"débiter" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "délier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "débiter" and "délier" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "débiter" or "délier" 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 "débiter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,000 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débiter" and "délier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs déviée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #18,000 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.