Which to use
“décalés” and “décimales” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,507
- “décalés” frequency rank
- #49,038
- “décimales” frequency rank
- 83545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalés | décimales |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de décalé. | Féminin pluriel de décimal. |
Where the eye mixes décalés and décimales
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décalés runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against décimales's 9 (CVCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses décalés with décimales
A purely visual mix-up. décalés (\de.ka.le\) and décimales (\de.si.mal\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 83545, 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\. décimales is at rank #49,038, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.si.mal\.
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 83545, this pair ranks #14,616 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décalés vs décimales
Shared letters: acdlsé. Private to "décalés": -. Private to "décimales": eim.
"décalés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "décimales" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décalés" and "décimales" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "décalés" or "décimales" show up more?
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 "décalés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décimales" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,616 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalés" and "décimales" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décimale vs décimales". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #14,616 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.