Which to use
“décale” and “défilé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,506
- “décale” frequency rank
- #6,498
- “défilé” frequency rank
- 41004
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décale | défilé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sortie de l’école pour les vacances. | Passage étroit où il ne peut passer que peu de personnes de front. |
Where the eye mixes décale and défilé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. décale and défilé follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between décale and défilé
A purely visual mix-up. décale (\de.kal\) and défilé (\de.fi.le\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41004, 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\. défilé is at rank #6,498, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.fi.le\.
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 41004, this pair ranks #236,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décale vs défilé
Shared letters: dlé. Private to "décale": ace. Private to "défilé": fi.
"décale" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "défilé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décale" for "défilé" ever safe?
Which is more common, "décale" or "défilé"?
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 "défilé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #236,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décale" and "défilé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décale vs décimale". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #236,301 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.