declare vs déplaire, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#49,591
“declare” frequency rank: #21,299
“déplaire” frequency rank: 70890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	declare	déplaire
Definition	Déclarer.	Être désagréable, en parlant des personnes.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set declare and déplaire apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

declare

8 ch

déplaire

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. declare ([dɪˈkleər]) and déplaire (\de.plɛʁ\) 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 70890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

declare is recorded at frequency rank #49,591, classified as averb, pronounced [dɪˈkleər]. déplaire is at rank #21,299, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.plɛʁ\.

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 70890, this pair ranks #49,587 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of declare vs déplaire

Shared letters: adelr. Private to "declare": c. Private to "déplaire": ipé.

"declare" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "déplaire" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

declare ← dcelare · ddeclare · decalre · decclare · declaer · declarre · decllare · declrae

Frequency comparison

declare#49,591

déplaire#21,299

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "declare" and "déplaire" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([dɪˈkleər] versus \de.plɛʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "declare" or "déplaire"?

"déplaire" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,299 in our French list, against #49,591 for "declare". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering declare vs déplaire

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “declare” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable