Which to use
“décoder” is a verb and “démodé” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,230
- “décoder” frequency rank
- #34,998
- “démodé” frequency rank
- 68228
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décoder | démodé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Déchiffrer ce qui est codé. | Qui a cessé d’être à la mode. |
Where the eye mixes décoder and démodé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses décoder with démodé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décoder is \de.kɔ.de\ while démodé is \de.mɔ.de\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68228, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décoder is recorded at frequency rank #33,230, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kɔ.de\. démodé is at rank #34,998, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.mɔ.de\.
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 68228, this pair ranks #60,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décoder vs démodé
Shared letters: doé. Private to "décoder": cer. Private to "démodé": m.
"décoder" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "démodé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décoder" and "démodé" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décoder" or "démodé"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "décoder" and "démodé" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décoder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démodé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décoder" and "démodé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démodé vs diode". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #60,012 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.