déchuevsdéçusWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,837
“déchue” frequency rank
#11,572
“déçus” frequency rank
54409
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déchue déçus
Definition Féminin singulier de déchu. Masculin pluriel de déçu.

Where the eye mixes déchue and déçus

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. déchue runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against déçus's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
déchue
5 ch
déçus

Why the eye confuses déchue with déçus

A purely visual mix-up. déchue (\de.ʃy\) and déçus (\de.sy\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54409, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déchue is recorded at frequency rank #42,837, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ʃy\. déçus is at rank #11,572, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.sy\.

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 54409, this pair ranks #134,234 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déchue vs déçus

Shared letters: dué. Private to "déchue": ceh. Private to "déçus": sç.

"déchue" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "déçus" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déchue" and "déçus" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.ʃy\ versus \de.sy\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "déchue" vs "déçus" - which ranks higher?
"déçus" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,572 in our French list, against #42,837 for "déchue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déchue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déçus" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #134,234 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déchue" and "déçus" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déchue". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #134,234 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