Which to use
“décolle” and “décore” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,725
- “décolle” frequency rank
- #33,232
- “décore” frequency rank
- 51957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décolle | décore |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décoller. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décorer. |
Where the eye mixes décolle and décore
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décolle runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against décore's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between décolle and décore
A purely visual mix-up. décolle (\de.kɔl\) and décore (\de.kɔʁ\) 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 51957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décolle is recorded at frequency rank #18,725, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kɔl\. décore is at rank #33,232, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.kɔʁ\.
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 51957, this pair ranks #151,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décolle vs décore
Shared letters: cdeoé. Private to "décolle": l. Private to "décore": r.
"décolle" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "décore" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décolle" and "décore" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "décolle" or "décore" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décolle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "décore" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #151,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décolle" and "décore" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs décore". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #151,180 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.