Which to use
“décidément” is an adverb and “décident” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,428
- “décidément” frequency rank
- #6,605
- “décident” frequency rank
- 14033
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décidément | décident |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | D’une manière décidée, ferme. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décider. |
Where the eye mixes décidément and décident
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. décidément runs 10 letters (CVCVCVCVCC) against décident's 8 (CVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses décidément with décident
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décidément is \de.si.de.mɑ̃\ while décident is \de.sid\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14033, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décidément is recorded at frequency rank #7,428, classified as anadv, pronounced \de.si.de.mɑ̃\. décident is at rank #6,605, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.sid\.
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 14033, this pair ranks #398,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of décidément vs décident
Shared letters: cdeinté. Private to "décidément": m. Private to "décident": -.
"décidément" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC · "décident" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "décidément" and "décident" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "décidément" or "décident"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "décidément" and "décident" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décidément" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décident" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #398,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décidément" and "décident" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décidément vs défilement". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #398,480 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.