Which to use
“déboires” and “délires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,121
- “déboires” frequency rank
- #13,161
- “délires” frequency rank
- 33282
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déboires | délires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de déboire. | Pluriel de délire. |
Where the eye mixes déboires and délires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. déboires runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against délires's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: déboires vs délires
A purely visual mix-up. déboires (\de.bwaʁ\) and délires (\de.liʁ\) 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 33282, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déboires is recorded at frequency rank #20,121, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.bwaʁ\. délires is at rank #13,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.liʁ\.
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 33282, this pair ranks #291,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déboires vs délires
Shared letters: deirsé. Private to "déboires": bo. Private to "délires": l.
"déboires" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "délires" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "déboires" for "délires" ever safe?
Frequency check: "déboires" vs "délires" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "déboires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,681 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déboires" and "délires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délires vs désirées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291,681 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.