Which to use
“décadence” and “décence” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,681
- “décadence” frequency rank
- #18,722
- “décence” frequency rank
- 36403
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décadence | décence |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dégradation, abaissement général des valeurs, des comportements que reconnaît une société, un peuple ou un pouvoir politique comme étant la norme à devoir respecter. | Bienséance, ce qui est décent. |
Where the eye mixes décadence and décence
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. décadence runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCCV) against décence's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between décadence and décence
A purely visual mix-up. décadence (\de.ka.dɑ̃s\) and décence (\de.sɑ̃s\) 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 36403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décadence is recorded at frequency rank #17,681, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ka.dɑ̃s\. décence is at rank #18,722, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.sɑ̃s\.
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 36403, this pair ranks #269,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décadence vs décence
Shared letters: cdené. Private to "décadence": a. Private to "décence": -.
"décadence" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV · "décence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décadence" and "décence" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "décadence" vs "décence" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "décadence" and "décence" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décadence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décence" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #269,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décadence" and "décence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décence vs décents". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #269,856 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.