Which to use
“décèle” and “decide” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,127
- “décèle” frequency rank
- #30,555
- “decide” frequency rank
- 76682
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décèle | decide |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déceler. | Décider. |
Where the eye mixes décèle and decide
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. décèle and decide follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between décèle and decide
A purely visual mix-up. décèle (\de.sɛl\) and decide (\dɪˈsɑɪd\) 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 76682, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décèle is recorded at frequency rank #46,127, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sɛl\. decide is at rank #30,555, tagged as averb, pronounced \dɪˈsɑɪd\.
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 76682, this pair ranks #30,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décèle vs decide
Shared letters: cde. Private to "décèle": lèé. Private to "decide": i.
"décèle" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "decide" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- decide ← dceide · ddecide · deccide · decdie · decidde · decied · deicde · edcide
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décèle" and "decide" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décèle" or "decide"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décèle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "decide" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,445 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décèle" and "decide" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs dèche". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #30,445 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.