Which to use
“décédé” is an adjective and “décote” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,068
- “décédé” frequency rank
- #41,242
- “décote” frequency rank
- 45310
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décédé | décote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mort. Qui a cessé de vivre. | Réduction de la cote, baisse de la valeur. |
Where the eye mixes décédé and décote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. décédé and décote follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: décédé vs décote
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décédé is \de.se.de\ while décote is \de.kɔt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45310, 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\. décote is at rank #41,242, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.kɔt\.
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 45310, this pair ranks #203,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décédé vs décote
Shared letters: cdé. Private to "décédé": -. Private to "décote": eot.
"décédé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "décote" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décédé" and "décote" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "décédé" or "décote" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "décédé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #203,725 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décédé" and "décote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs décote". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #203,725 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.