décédésvsdéçuesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,181
“décédés” frequency rank
#46,735
“déçues” frequency rank
64916
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décédés déçues
Definition Masculin pluriel de décédé. Féminin pluriel de déçu.

Where the eye mixes décédés and déçues

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. décédés runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against déçues's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
décédés
6 ch
déçues

Look-alike desk: décédés vs déçues

A purely visual mix-up. décédés (\de.se.de\) and déçues (\de.sy\) 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 64916, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décédés is recorded at frequency rank #18,181, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.se.de\. déçues is at rank #46,735, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.sy\.

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 64916, this pair ranks #74,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décédés vs déçues

Shared letters: dsé. Private to "décédés": c. Private to "déçues": euç.

"décédés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "déçues" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décédés" and "déçues" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.se.de\ versus \de.sy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décédés" or "déçues"?
"décédés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,181 in our French list, against #46,735 for "déçues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décédés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déçues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décédés" and "déçues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçues". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #74,729 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