Which to use
“décapiter” is a verb and “décapités” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #31,456
- “décapiter” frequency rank
- #39,263
- “décapités” frequency rank
- 70719
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décapiter | décapités |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Trancher la tête à une personne avec une épée, une hache (sur le billot), ou au moyen de la guillotine. | Masculin pluriel de décapité. |
Same sound, different letters: décapiter vs décapités
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. décapiter and décapités follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Homophone desk: décapiter vs décapités
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: décapiter and décapités carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.ka.pi.te\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70719, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décapiter is recorded at frequency rank #31,456, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ka.pi.te\. décapités is at rank #39,263, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.ka.pi.te\.
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 70719, this pair ranks #50,299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décapiter vs décapités
Shared letters: acdipté. Private to "décapiter": er. Private to "décapités": s.
"décapiter" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC · "décapités" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décapiter" and "décapités" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "décapiter" or "décapités" show up more?
What to do next
"décapiter" and "décapités" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "décapiter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décapités" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #50,299 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décapiter" and "décapités" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décapitée vs décapités". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #50,299 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.