Which to use
“début” is a noun and “déçu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #335
- “début” frequency rank
- #3,752
- “déçu” frequency rank
- 4087
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | début | déçu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Commencement. | Qui a éprouvé une déception, qui a subi une situation inférieure à ses attentes. |
Where the eye mixes début and déçu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: début vs déçu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: début is \de.by\ while déçu is \de.sy\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
début is recorded at frequency rank #335, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.by\. déçu is at rank #3,752, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.sy\.
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 4087, this pair ranks #432,497 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of début vs déçu
Shared letters: dué. Private to "début": bt. Private to "déçu": ç.
"début" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "déçu" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "début" and "déçu" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "début" vs "déçu" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "début" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déçu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #432,497 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "début" and "déçu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #432,497 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.