Which to use
“débouté” and “début” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,395
- “débouté” frequency rank
- #335
- “début” frequency rank
- 43730
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | débouté | début |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rejet d’une demande faite en justice. | Commencement. |
Where the eye mixes débouté and début
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. débouté runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against début's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses débouté with début
A purely visual mix-up. débouté (\de.bu.te\) and début (\de.by\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
débouté is recorded at frequency rank #43,395, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.bu.te\. début is at rank #335, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.by\.
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 43730, this pair ranks #215,861 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of débouté vs début
Shared letters: bdtué. Private to "débouté": o. Private to "début": -.
"débouté" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "début" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "débouté" and "début" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "débouté" or "début" show up more?
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 "débouté" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "début" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #215,861 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "débouté" and "début" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débouté vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #215,861 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.