Which to use
“décente” is an adjective and “déteste” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,734
- “décente” frequency rank
- #2,363
- “déteste” frequency rank
- 32097
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décente | déteste |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de décent. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de détester. |
Where the eye mixes décente and déteste
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décente and déteste follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses décente with déteste
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décente is \de.sɑ̃t\ while déteste is \de.tɛst\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32097, 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\. déteste is at rank #2,363, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tɛst\.
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 32097, this pair ranks #299,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décente vs déteste
Shared letters: deté. Private to "décente": cn. Private to "déteste": s.
"décente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "déteste" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décente" and "déteste" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "décente" or "déteste" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décente" and "déteste" 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 "déteste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #299,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décente" and "déteste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décente vs décents". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #299,587 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.