Which to use
“dèche” is a noun and “déchus” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #49,607
- “dèche” frequency rank
- #41,240
- “déchus” frequency rank
- 90847
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dèche | déchus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Misère, gêne financière. | Masculin pluriel de déchu. |
Where the eye mixes dèche and déchus
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. dèche runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against déchus's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dèche vs déchus
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dèche is \dɛʃ\ while déchus is \de.ʃy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 90847, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dèche is recorded at frequency rank #49,607, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɛʃ\. déchus is at rank #41,240, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.ʃy\.
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 90847, this pair ranks #4,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dèche vs déchus
Shared letters: cdh. Private to "dèche": eè. Private to "déchus": sué.
"dèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "déchus" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dèche" and "déchus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dèche" or "déchus"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dèche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déchus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,412 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dèche" and "déchus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçues". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #4,412 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.