Which to use
“dèche” and “dépêche” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #49,607
- “dèche” frequency rank
- #8,994
- “dépêche” frequency rank
- 58601
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dèche | dépêche |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Misère, gêne financière. | Communication officielle ou privée transmise par voie plus ou moins rapide. |
Where the eye mixes dèche and dépêche
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. dèche runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against dépêche's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dèche vs dépêche
A purely visual mix-up. dèche (\dɛʃ\) and dépêche (\de.pɛʃ\) 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 58601, 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\. dépêche is at rank #8,994, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.pɛʃ\.
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 58601, this pair ranks #108,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dèche vs dépêche
Shared letters: cdeh. Private to "dèche": è. Private to "dépêche": péê.
"dèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dépêche" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dèche" for "dépêche" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "dèche" or "dépêche" show up more?
What to do next
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 "dépêche" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,104 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dèche" and "dépêche" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçues". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #108,104 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.