décentevsdécriteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#29,734
“décente” frequency rank
#9,645
“décrite” frequency rank
39379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décente décrite
Definition Féminin singulier de décent. Féminin singulier de décrit.

Where the eye mixes décente and décrite

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décente (CVCVCCV) and décrite (CVCCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
décente
7 ch
décrite

Visual trap between décente and décrite

A purely visual mix-up. décente (\de.sɑ̃t\) and décrite (\de.kʁit\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39379, 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\. décrite is at rank #9,645, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.kʁit\.

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 39379, this pair ranks #248,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décente vs décrite

Shared letters: cdeté. Private to "décente": n. Private to "décrite": ir.

"décente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "décrite" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décente" and "décrite" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.sɑ̃t\ versus \de.kʁit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décente" or "décrite"?
"décrite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,645 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.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décrite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #248,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décente" and "décrite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décente vs décents". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #248,409 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