Which to use
“décaler” and “dégager” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,977
- “décaler” frequency rank
- #5,751
- “dégager” frequency rank
- 31728
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décaler | dégager |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enlever la cale à ; changer l’équilibre, l’aplomb. | Rendre à quelqu’un sa parole, ne pas exiger qu’il tienne sa promesse, l’affranchir de la responsabilité à laquelle il était tenu. |
Where the eye mixes décaler and dégager
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décaler and dégager follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: décaler vs dégager
A purely visual mix-up. décaler (\de.ka.le\) and dégager (\de.ɡa.ʒe\) 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 31728, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décaler is recorded at frequency rank #25,977, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ka.le\. dégager is at rank #5,751, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒe\.
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 31728, this pair ranks #301,926 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décaler vs dégager
Shared letters: aderé. Private to "décaler": cl. Private to "dégager": g.
"décaler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "dégager" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décaler" for "dégager" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "décaler" or "dégager" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "décaler" and "dégager" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décaler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dégager" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #301,926 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décaler" and "dégager" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décaler vs décèle". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #301,926 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.