Which to use
“décalés” and “démêlés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,507
- “décalés” frequency rank
- #30,137
- “démêlés” frequency rank
- 64644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décalés | démêlés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de décalé. | Masculin pluriel de démêlé. |
Where the eye mixes décalés and démêlés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décalés and démêlés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses décalés with démêlés
A purely visual mix-up. décalés (\de.ka.le\) and démêlés (\de.me.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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64644, 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\. démêlés is at rank #30,137, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.me.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 64644, this pair ranks #76,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décalés vs démêlés
Shared letters: dlsé. Private to "décalés": ac. Private to "démêlés": mê.
"décalés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "démêlés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décalés" and "démêlés" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décalés" or "démêlés"?
Useful next steps
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 "démêlés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #76,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décalés" and "démêlés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décalés vs décimales". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #76,053 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.