Which to use
“décédé” is an adjective and “dèche” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,068
- “décédé” frequency rank
- #49,607
- “dèche” frequency rank
- 53675
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décédé | dèche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mort. Qui a cessé de vivre. | Misère, gêne financière. |
Where the eye mixes décédé and dèche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. décédé runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against dèche's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: décédé vs dèche
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décédé is \de.se.de\ while dèche is \dɛʃ\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53675, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décédé is recorded at frequency rank #4,068, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.se.de\. dèche is at rank #49,607, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɛʃ\.
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 53675, this pair ranks #139,176 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décédé vs dèche
Shared letters: cd. Private to "décédé": é. Private to "dèche": ehè.
"décédé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décédé" and "dèche" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "décédé" or "dèche" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décédé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dèche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #139,176 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décédé" and "dèche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçues". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #139,176 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.