Which to use
“décrète” is a verb and “discrète” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,554
- “décrète” frequency rank
- #9,148
- “discrète” frequency rank
- 33702
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | décrète | discrète |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de décréter. | Mouche discrète, c’est-à-dire grain de beauté factice placé sous de la lèvre inférieure, vers le menton. |
Where the eye mixes décrète and discrète
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. décrète runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against discrète's 8 (CVCCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between décrète and discrète
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décrète is \de.kʁɛt\ while discrète is \dis.kʁɛt\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33702, 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\. discrète is at rank #9,148, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dis.kʁɛt\.
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 33702, this pair ranks #288,870 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of décrète vs discrète
Shared letters: cdertè. Private to "décrète": é. Private to "discrète": is.
"décrète" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "discrète" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "décrète" and "discrète" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "décrète" or "discrète" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "décrète" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "discrète" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,870 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "décrète" and "discrète" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décrète vs désuète". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #288,870 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.