Which to use
“décale” and “décote” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,506
- “décale” frequency rank
- #41,242
- “décote” frequency rank
- 75748
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décale | décote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sortie de l’école pour les vacances. | Réduction de la cote, baisse de la valeur. |
Where the eye mixes décale and décote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. décale and décote follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: décale vs décote
A purely visual mix-up. décale (\de.kal\) and décote (\de.kɔt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75748, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décale is recorded at frequency rank #34,506, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.kal\. décote is at rank #41,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.kɔt\.
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 75748, this pair ranks #33,127 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décale vs décote
Shared letters: cdeé. Private to "décale": al. Private to "décote": ot.
"décale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "décote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décale" for "décote" ever safe?
Which is more common, "décale" or "décote"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #33,127 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décale" and "décote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs décote". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #33,127 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.