Which to use
“décrète” is a verb and “désuète” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,554
- “décrète” frequency rank
- #47,309
- “désuète” frequency rank
- 71863
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décrète | désuète |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décréter. | Féminin singulier de désuet. |
Where the eye mixes décrète and désuète
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. décrète (CVCCVCV) and désuète (CVCVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses décrète with désuète
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décrète is \de.kʁɛt\ while désuète is \de.sɥɛt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71863, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
décrète is recorded at frequency rank #24,554, classified as averb, pronounced \de.kʁɛt\. désuète is at rank #47,309, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.sɥɛt\.
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 71863, this pair ranks #46,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of décrète vs désuète
Shared letters: detèé. Private to "décrète": cr. Private to "désuète": su.
"décrète" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "désuète" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décrète" and "désuète" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "décrète" or "désuète"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "décrète" and "désuète" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "décrète" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désuète" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #46,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décrète" and "désuète" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déduite vs désuète". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #46,012 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.