décollervsdécoulerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,771
“décoller” frequency rank
#35,908
“découler” frequency rank
48679
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décoller découler
Definition Séparer, détacher une chose qui était collée. Couler peu à peu et de suite.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décoller and découler apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
décoller
8 ch
découler

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. décoller (\de.kɔ.le\) and découler (\de.ku.le\) 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 a single letter - l in “décoller” becomes u in “découler”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48679, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décoller is recorded at frequency rank #12,771, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kɔ.le\. découler is at rank #35,908, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ku.le\.

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 48679, this pair ranks #176,869 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décoller vs découler

Shared letters: cdeloré. Private to "décoller": -. Private to "découler": u.

"décoller" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "découler" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Frequency comparison

décoller#12,771
découler#35,908

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décoller" and "découler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.kɔ.le\ versus \de.ku.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "décoller" or "découler"?
"décoller" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,771 in our French list, against #35,908 for "découler". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décoller vs découler

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 “décoller” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list