Which to use
“décore” and “déféré” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,232
- “décore” frequency rank
- #37,775
- “déféré” frequency rank
- 71007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décore | déféré |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décorer. | Participe passé masculin singulier de déférer. |
Where the eye mixes décore and déféré
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. décore and déféré follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: décore vs déféré
A purely visual mix-up. décore (\de.kɔʁ\) and déféré (\de.fe.ʁe\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décore is recorded at frequency rank #33,232, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kɔʁ\. déféré is at rank #37,775, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.fe.ʁe\.
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 71007, this pair ranks #49,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décore vs déféré
Shared letters: dré. Private to "décore": ceo. Private to "déféré": f.
"décore" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "déféré" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décore" and "déféré" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décore" or "déféré"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "décore" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déféré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,155 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décore" and "déféré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs déféré". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #49,155 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.