Which to use
“décalée” is an adjective and “décimée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #25,289
- “décalée” frequency rank
- #42,299
- “décimée” frequency rank
- 67588
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalée | décimée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de décalé. | Participe passé féminin singulier de décimer. |
Where the eye mixes décalée and décimée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décalée and décimée follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses décalée with décimée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décalée is \de.ka.le\ while décimée is \de.si.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décalée is recorded at frequency rank #25,289, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ka.le\. décimée is at rank #42,299, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.si.me\.
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 67588, this pair ranks #62,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décalée vs décimée
Shared letters: cdeé. Private to "décalée": al. Private to "décimée": im.
"décalée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "décimée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décalée" for "décimée" ever safe?
Which is more common, "décalée" or "décimée"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "décalée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décimée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalée" and "décimée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décimale vs décimée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #62,772 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.