Which to use
“découler” and “défoule” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,908
- “découler” frequency rank
- #42,842
- “défoule” frequency rank
- 78750
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | découler | défoule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Couler peu à peu et de suite. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de défouler. |
Where the eye mixes découler and défoule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. découler runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against défoule's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses découler with défoule
A purely visual mix-up. découler (\de.ku.le\) and défoule (\de.ful\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 78750, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
découler is recorded at frequency rank #35,908, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ku.le\. défoule is at rank #42,842, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ful\.
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 78750, this pair ranks #24,985 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of découler vs défoule
Shared letters: deloué. Private to "découler": cr. Private to "défoule": f.
"découler" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "défoule" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "découler" and "défoule" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "découler" vs "défoule" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "découler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "défoule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #24,985 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "découler" and "défoule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défoule vs déroula". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #24,985 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.