Which to use
“déchirée” is an adjective and “décimée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,547
- “déchirée” frequency rank
- #42,299
- “décimée” frequency rank
- 64846
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déchirée | décimée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de déchiré. | Participe passé féminin singulier de décimer. |
Where the eye mixes déchirée and décimée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. déchirée runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVV) against décimée's 7 (CVCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses déchirée with décimée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déchirée is \de.ʃi.ʁe\ while décimée is \de.si.me\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64846, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déchirée is recorded at frequency rank #22,547, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ʃi.ʁe\. décimée is at rank #42,299, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.si.me\.
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 64846, this pair ranks #75,085 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of déchirée vs décimée
Shared letters: cdeié. Private to "déchirée": hr. Private to "décimée": m.
"déchirée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV · "décimée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "déchirée" for "décimée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "déchirée" or "décimée" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "déchirée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décimée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,085 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déchirée" and "décimée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décimale vs décimée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #75,085 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.