décédéesvsdécidéeTell them apart

Which to use

“décédées” and “décidée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#34,995
“décédées” frequency rank
#10,142
“décidée” frequency rank
45137
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décédées décidée
Definition Féminin pluriel de décédé. Féminin singulier de décidé.

Where the eye mixes décédées and décidée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décédées runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against décidée's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
décédées
7 ch
décidée

Visual trap between décédées and décidée

A purely visual mix-up. décédées (\de.se.de\) and décidée (\de.si.de\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45137, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décédées is recorded at frequency rank #34,995, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.se.de\. décidée is at rank #10,142, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.si.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 45137, this pair ranks #205,102 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décédées vs décidée

Shared letters: cdeé. Private to "décédées": s. Private to "décidée": i.

"décédées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "décidée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "décédées" for "décidée" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.se.de\ versus \de.si.de\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décédées" or "décidée"?
"décidée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,142 in our French list, against #34,995 for "décédées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "décédées" and "décidée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décédées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décidée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #205,102 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décédées" and "décidée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décédées vs décèdent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #205,102 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list