Which to use
“déborde” is a verb and “démodé” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #15,859
- “déborde” frequency rank
- #34,998
- “démodé” frequency rank
- 50857
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déborde | démodé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déborder. | Qui a cessé d’être à la mode. |
Where the eye mixes déborde and démodé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. déborde runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against démodé's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: déborde vs démodé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déborde is \de.bɔʁd\ while démodé is \de.mɔ.de\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déborde is recorded at frequency rank #15,859, classified as averb, pronounced \de.bɔʁd\. démodé is at rank #34,998, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.mɔ.de\.
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 50857, this pair ranks #159,401 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déborde vs démodé
Shared letters: doé. Private to "déborde": ber. Private to "démodé": m.
"déborde" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "démodé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "déborde" and "démodé" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "déborde" or "démodé" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "déborde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démodé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,401 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déborde" and "démodé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démodé vs diode". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #159,401 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.