Which to use
“décorer” and “désirer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,726
- “décorer” frequency rank
- #13,581
- “désirer” frequency rank
- 32307
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décorer | désirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Orner ou parer, en parlant d’ornements d’architecture, de peinture, de sculpture, etc. | Vouloir posséder un bien ou un avantage qu’on n’a pas. |
Where the eye mixes décorer and désirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: décorer vs désirer
A purely visual mix-up. décorer (\de.kɔ.ʁe\) and désirer (\de.zi.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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32307, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décorer is recorded at frequency rank #18,726, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kɔ.ʁe\. désirer is at rank #13,581, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.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 32307, this pair ranks #298,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décorer vs désirer
Shared letters: deré. Private to "décorer": co. Private to "désirer": is.
"décorer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "désirer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décorer" and "désirer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "décorer" or "désirer" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "décorer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #298,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décorer" and "désirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décorent vs décorer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #298,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.