décretsvsdécritWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: décrets is a noun, décrit is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#13,159
“décrets” frequency rank
#2,516
“décrit” frequency rank
15675
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décrets décrit
Definition Pluriel de décret. Dépeint, exprimé oralement ou par écrit.

Where the eye mixes décrets and décrit

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
décrets
6 ch
décrit

Why the eye confuses décrets with décrit

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décrets is \de.kʁɛ\ while décrit is \de.kʁi\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15675, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décrets is recorded at frequency rank #13,159, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.kʁɛ\. décrit is at rank #2,516, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.kʁi\.

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 15675, this pair ranks #391,319 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of décrets vs décrit

Shared letters: cdrté. Private to "décrets": es. Private to "décrit": i.

"décrets" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "décrit" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "décrets" and "décrit" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décrets" is a noun and "décrit" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "décrets" vs "décrit" - which ranks higher?
"décrit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,516 in our French list, against #13,159 for "décrets". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "décrets" and "décrit" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décrets" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "décrit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #391,319 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décrets" and "décrit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décents vs décrets". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #391,319 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list