décevantvsdécevantesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,554
“décevant” frequency rank
#46,123
“décevantes” frequency rank
58677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décevant décevantes
Definition Qui déçoit ; qui cause de la déception. Féminin pluriel de décevant.

Where the eye mixes décevant and décevantes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. décevant runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against décevantes's 10 (CVCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
décevant
10 ch
décevantes

Why the eye confuses décevant with décevantes

A purely visual mix-up. décevant (\de.sə.vɑ̃\) and décevantes (\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 extra letter(s) - “décevant” sits inside “décevantes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décevant is recorded at frequency rank #12,554, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.sə.vɑ̃\. décevantes is at rank #46,123, 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 58677, this pair ranks #107,593 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décevant vs décevantes

Shared letters: acdentvé. Private to "décevant": -. Private to "décevantes": s.

"décevant" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC  ·  "décevantes" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décevant" and "décevantes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.sə.vɑ̃\ versus \de.sə.vɑ̃t\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "décevant" vs "décevantes" - which ranks higher?
"décevant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,554 in our French list, against #46,123 for "décevantes". 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 "décevant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décevantes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #107,593 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décevant" and "décevantes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décevantes vs décevants". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #107,593 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