déclicvsdegliTell them apart

Quick tell: déclic is a noun, degli is an article, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déclic” is a noun and “degli” is an article - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#20,426
“déclic” frequency rank
#42,274
“degli” frequency rank
62700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déclic degli
Definition Ressort ou crochet qui, étant ôté, détermine le mouvement d’un mécanisme. Article contracté souvent traduit par des. Note d’usage : il s’emploie alternativement à dei devant les consonnes impures : s, gn, pn, ps, x, z.

Where the eye mixes déclic and degli

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

6 ch
déclic
5 ch
degli

Why the eye confuses déclic with degli

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déclic is \de.klik\ while degli is \ˈdeʎ.ʎi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs article), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62700, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déclic is recorded at frequency rank #20,426, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.klik\. degli is at rank #42,274, tagged as anarticle, pronounced \ˈdeʎ.ʎi\.

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 62700, this pair ranks #85,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déclic vs degli

Shared letters: dil. Private to "déclic": . Private to "degli": eg.

"déclic" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "degli" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • degliddegli · deggli · degil · deglli · delgi · dgeli · edgli

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "déclic" for "degli" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déclic" is a noun and "degli" an article, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déclic" or "degli"?
"déclic" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,426 in our French list, against #42,274 for "degli". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déclic" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "degli" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #85,774 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déclic" and "degli" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "degli vs DGSI". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #85,774 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