décentevsdécevanteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#29,734
“décente” frequency rank
#24,187
“décevante” frequency rank
53921
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décente décevante
Definition Féminin singulier de décent. Féminin singulier de décevant.

Where the eye mixes décente and décevante

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. décente runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against décevante's 9 (CVCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
décente
9 ch
décevante

Look-alike desk: décente vs décevante

A purely visual mix-up. décente (\de.sɑ̃t\) and décevante (\de.sə.vɑ̃t\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décente is recorded at frequency rank #29,734, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.sɑ̃t\. décevante is at rank #24,187, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.sə.vɑ̃t\.

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 53921, this pair ranks #137,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décente vs décevante

Shared letters: cdenté. Private to "décente": -. Private to "décevante": av.

"décente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "décevante" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "décente" for "décevante" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.sɑ̃t\ versus \de.sə.vɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décente" or "décevante"?
"décevante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,187 in our French list, against #29,734 for "décente". 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 "décente" and "décevante" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décevante" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #137,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décente" and "décevante" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décente vs décents". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #137,535 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