déciméevsdéclinéeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#42,299
“décimée” frequency rank
#37,289
“déclinée” frequency rank
79588
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décimée déclinée
Definition Participe passé féminin singulier de décimer. Participe passé féminin singulier de décliner.

Where the eye mixes décimée and déclinée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décimée runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against déclinée's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
décimée
8 ch
déclinée

Look-alike desk: décimée vs déclinée

A purely visual mix-up. décimée (\de.si.me\) and déclinée (\de.kli.ne\) 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 79588, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décimée is recorded at frequency rank #42,299, classified as averb, pronounced \de.si.me\. déclinée is at rank #37,289, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kli.ne\.

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 79588, this pair ranks #22,921 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décimée vs déclinée

Shared letters: cdeié. Private to "décimée": m. Private to "déclinée": ln.

"décimée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "déclinée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "décimée" and "déclinée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.si.me\ versus \de.kli.ne\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "décimée" vs "déclinée" - which ranks higher?
"déclinée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,289 in our French list, against #42,299 for "décimée". 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 "décimée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déclinée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,921 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décimée" and "déclinée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décimale vs décimée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #22,921 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