Which to use
“décéder” and “démêler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,290
- “décéder” frequency rank
- #26,702
- “démêler” frequency rank
- 63992
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décéder | démêler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mourir, en parlant des personnes. | Séparer une chose d’autres choses avec lesquelles elle est mêlée. |
Where the eye mixes décéder and démêler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. décéder and démêler follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: décéder vs démêler
A purely visual mix-up. décéder (\de.se.de\) and démêler (\de.me.le\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63992, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décéder is recorded at frequency rank #37,290, classified as averb, pronounced \de.se.de\. démêler is at rank #26,702, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.me.le\.
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 63992, this pair ranks #79,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décéder vs démêler
Shared letters: deré. Private to "décéder": c. Private to "démêler": lmê.
"décéder" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "démêler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décéder" for "démêler" ever safe?
Which is more common, "décéder" or "démêler"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "décéder" and "démêler" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décéder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démêler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décéder" and "démêler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèdent vs décéder". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #79,212 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.