Which to use
“décorent” and “désirent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #48,459
- “décorent” frequency rank
- #13,775
- “désirent” frequency rank
- 62234
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décorent | désirent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de décorer. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de désirer. |
Where the eye mixes décorent and désirent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décorent and désirent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses décorent with désirent
A purely visual mix-up. décorent (\de.kɔʁ\) and désirent (\de.ziʁ\) 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 62234, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décorent is recorded at frequency rank #48,459, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kɔʁ\. désirent is at rank #13,775, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ziʁ\.
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 62234, this pair ranks #88,165 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décorent vs désirent
Shared letters: denrté. Private to "décorent": co. Private to "désirent": is.
"décorent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "désirent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "décorent" for "désirent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "décorent" vs "désirent" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "décorent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désirent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,165 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décorent" and "désirent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décorent vs déforment". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #88,165 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.