Which to use
“décident” and “défilent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,605
- “décident” frequency rank
- #20,122
- “défilent” frequency rank
- 26727
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décident | défilent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décider. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défiler. |
Where the eye mixes décident and défilent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décident and défilent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between décident and défilent
A purely visual mix-up. décident (\de.sid\) and défilent (\de.fil\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26727, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décident is recorded at frequency rank #6,605, classified as averb, pronounced \de.sid\. défilent is at rank #20,122, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.fil\.
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 26727, this pair ranks #333,195 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of décident vs défilent
Shared letters: deinté. Private to "décident": c. Private to "défilent": fl.
"décident" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "défilent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décident" and "défilent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "décident" vs "défilent" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décident" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "défilent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #333,195 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décident" and "défilent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défilement vs défilent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #333,195 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.