décorés vs degrés, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“décorés” is an adjective and “degrés” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,523
“décorés” frequency rank: #3,192
“degrés” frequency rank: 26715
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	décorés	degrés
Definition	Masculin pluriel de décoré.	Pluriel de degré.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set décorés and degrés apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

décorés

6 ch

degrés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décorés is \de.kɔ.ʁe\ while degrés is \də.ɡʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décorés is recorded at frequency rank #23,523, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.kɔ.ʁe\. degrés is at rank #3,192, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.ɡʁe\.

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 26715, this pair ranks #333,267 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of décorés vs degrés

Shared letters: drsé. Private to "décorés": co. Private to "degrés": eg.

"décorés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "degrés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

décorés#23,523

degrés#3,192

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décorés" and "degrés" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décorés" is an adjective and "degrés" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "décorés" or "degrés"?

"degrés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,192 in our French list, against #23,523 for "décorés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering décorés vs degrés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “décorés”; for a noun, it's “degrés”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “décorés” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable