Which to use
“décoller” and “découper” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,771
- “décoller” frequency rank
- #15,361
- “découper” frequency rank
- 28132
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décoller | découper |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Séparer, détacher une chose qui était collée. | Couper par morceaux une pièce de viande ou détacher un à un les membres d’une pièce de volaille, de gibier. |
Where the eye mixes décoller and découper
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décoller (CVCVCCVC) and découper (CVCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses décoller with découper
A purely visual mix-up. décoller (\de.kɔ.le\) and découper (\de.ku.pe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28132, 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\. découper is at rank #15,361, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ku.pe\.
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 28132, this pair ranks #324,721 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décoller vs découper
Shared letters: cdeoré. Private to "décoller": l. Private to "découper": pu.
"décoller" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "découper" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décoller" for "découper" ever safe?
Frequency check: "décoller" vs "découper" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "décoller" and "découper" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décoller" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "découper" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #324,721 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décoller" and "découper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "découper vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #324,721 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.