Which to use
“découper” and “déjouer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,361
- “découper” frequency rank
- #22,548
- “déjouer” frequency rank
- 37909
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | découper | déjouer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Couper par morceaux une pièce de viande ou détacher un à un les membres d’une pièce de volaille, de gibier. | Faire échouer le jeu de quelqu’un. |
Where the eye mixes découper and déjouer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. découper runs 8 letters (CVCVVCVC) against déjouer's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between découper and déjouer
A purely visual mix-up. découper (\de.ku.pe\) and déjouer (\de.ʒwe\) 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 37909, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
découper is recorded at frequency rank #15,361, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ku.pe\. déjouer is at rank #22,548, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʒwe\.
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 37909, this pair ranks #259,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of découper vs déjouer
Shared letters: deorué. Private to "découper": cp. Private to "déjouer": j.
"découper" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "déjouer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "découper" and "déjouer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "découper" or "déjouer"?
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 "découper" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déjouer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #259,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "découper" and "déjouer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déjouer vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #259,113 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.