Which to use
“décalés” is an adjective and “décèle” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,507
- “décalés” frequency rank
- #46,127
- “décèle” frequency rank
- 80634
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalés | décèle |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de décalé. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déceler. |
Where the eye mixes décalés and décèle
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. décalés runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against décèle's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: décalés vs décèle
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décalés is \de.ka.le\ while décèle is \de.sɛl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80634, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décalés is recorded at frequency rank #34,507, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ka.le\. décèle is at rank #46,127, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.sɛl\.
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 80634, this pair ranks #20,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décalés vs décèle
Shared letters: cdlé. Private to "décalés": as. Private to "décèle": eè.
"décalés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "décèle" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décalés" and "décèle" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "décalés" vs "décèle" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décalés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décèle" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalés" and "décèle" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs dèche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #20,493 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.