décentsvsdécevantsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#47,850
“décents” frequency rank
#34,509
“décevants” frequency rank
82359
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décents décevants
Definition Masculin pluriel de décent. Masculin pluriel de décevant.

Where the eye mixes décents and décevants

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

7 ch
décents
9 ch
décevants

Visual trap between décents and décevants

A purely visual mix-up. décents (\de.sɑ̃\) and décevants (\de.sə.vɑ̃\) 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 82359, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décents is recorded at frequency rank #47,850, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.sɑ̃\. décevants is at rank #34,509, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.sə.vɑ̃\.

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 82359, this pair ranks #16,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décents vs décevants

Shared letters: cdensté. Private to "décents": -. Private to "décevants": av.

"décents" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC  ·  "décevants" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "décents" for "décevants" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.sɑ̃\ versus \de.sə.vɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décents" or "décevants"?
"décevants" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,509 in our French list, against #47,850 for "décents". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "décents" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décevants" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,902 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décents" and "décevants" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décents vs démentis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #16,902 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