Which to use
“déçoit” is a verb and “défait” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,529
- “déçoit” frequency rank
- #11,757
- “défait” frequency rank
- 35286
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déçoit | défait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décevoir. | Qui est dénoué, déconstruit, mis dans un état inconvenable, désordonné. |
Where the eye mixes déçoit and défait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. déçoit and défait follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses déçoit with défait
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déçoit is \de.swa\ while défait is \de.fɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35286, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déçoit is recorded at frequency rank #23,529, classified as averb, pronounced \de.swa\. défait is at rank #11,757, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.fɛ\.
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 35286, this pair ranks #277,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déçoit vs défait
Shared letters: dité. Private to "déçoit": oç. Private to "défait": af.
"déçoit" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "défait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "déçoit" for "défait" ever safe?
Frequency check: "déçoit" vs "défait" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "déçoit" and "défait" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "déçoit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "défait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #277,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déçoit" and "défait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déçoit vs démolit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #277,852 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.