débordésvsdécorésTell them apart

Which to use

“débordés” and “décorés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,455
“débordés” frequency rank
#23,523
“décorés” frequency rank
54978
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature débordés décorés
Definition Masculin pluriel de débordé. Masculin pluriel de décoré.

Where the eye mixes débordés and décorés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. débordés runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against décorés's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
débordés
7 ch
décorés

Look-alike desk: débordés vs décorés

A purely visual mix-up. débordés (\de.bɔʁ.de\) and décorés (\de.kɔ.ʁe\) 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 54978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

débordés is recorded at frequency rank #31,455, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.bɔʁ.de\. décorés is at rank #23,523, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.kɔ.ʁe\.

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 54978, this pair ranks #130,422 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of débordés vs décorés

Shared letters: dorsé. Private to "débordés": b. Private to "décorés": c.

"débordés" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "décorés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "débordés" and "décorés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.bɔʁ.de\ versus \de.kɔ.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "débordés" vs "décorés" - which ranks higher?
"décorés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,523 in our French list, against #31,455 for "débordés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "débordés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décorés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #130,422 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "débordés" and "décorés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décorent vs décorés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #130,422 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list