deboutvsdéboutéWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: debout is a adjective, débouté is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“debout” is an adjective and “débouté” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,770
“debout” frequency rank
#43,395
“débouté” frequency rank
46165
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature debout débouté
Definition Qualifie un vent, de face, quand il est en sens contraire au mouvement de l’aéronef, du navire, etc. Rejet d’une demande faite en justice.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set debout and débouté apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
debout
7 ch
débouté

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: debout is \də.bu\ while débouté is \de.bu.te\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46165, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

debout is recorded at frequency rank #2,770, classified as anadj, pronounced \də.bu\. débouté is at rank #43,395, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.bu.te\.

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 46165, this pair ranks #197,082 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of debout vs débouté

Shared letters: bdotu. Private to "debout": e. Private to "débouté": é.

"debout" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "débouté" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • deboutdbeout · ddebout · debbout · debotu · deboutt · debuot · deobut · edbout

Frequency comparison

debout#2,770
débouté#43,395

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "debout" and "débouté" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "debout" is an adjective and "débouté" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "debout" or "débouté"?
"debout" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,770 in our French list, against #43,395 for "débouté". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering debout vs débouté

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “debout”; for a noun, it's “débouté”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “debout” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list