Which to use
“décédé” and “démodé” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,068
- “décédé” frequency rank
- #34,998
- “démodé” frequency rank
- 39066
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décédé | démodé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mort. Qui a cessé de vivre. | Qui a cessé d’être à la mode. |
Where the eye mixes décédé and démodé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. décédé and démodé 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 démodé
A purely visual mix-up. décédé (\de.se.de\) and démodé (\de.mɔ.de\) 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 39066, 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\. démodé is at rank #34,998, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.mɔ.de\.
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 39066, this pair ranks #250,760 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décédé vs démodé
Shared letters: dé. Private to "décédé": c. Private to "démodé": mo.
"décédé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "démodé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décédé" and "démodé" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "décédé" vs "démodé" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décédé" and "démodé" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décédé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démodé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #250,760 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décédé" and "démodé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démodé vs diode". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #250,760 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.