dèchevsdermeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#49,607
“dèche” frequency rank
#46,692
“derme” frequency rank
96299
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dèche derme
Definition Misère, gêne financière. Tissu qui forme la partie la plus épaisse de la peau entre l’épiderme et l'hypoderme.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dèche and derme apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
dèche
5 ch
derme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dèche (\dɛʃ\) and derme (\dɛʁm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 96299, 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\. derme is at rank #46,692, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɛʁm\.

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 96299, this pair ranks #730 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dèche vs derme

Shared letters: de. Private to "dèche": chè. Private to "derme": mr.

"dèche" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "derme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dermedderme · demre · derem · dermme · derrme · dreme · edrme

Frequency comparison

dèche#49,607
derme#46,692

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dèche" and "derme" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\dɛʃ\ versus \dɛʁm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dèche" or "derme"?
"derme" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #46,692 in our French list, against #49,607 for "dèche". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dèche vs derme

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dèche” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list