décretsvsdenréesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“décrets” and “denrées” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,159
“décrets” frequency rank
#14,445
“denrées” frequency rank
27604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décrets denrées
Definition Pluriel de décret. Pluriel de denrée.

Where the eye mixes décrets and denrées

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
décrets
7 ch
denrées

Look-alike desk: décrets vs denrées

A purely visual mix-up. décrets (\de.kʁɛ\) and denrées (\dɑ̃.ʁe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27604, 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\. denrées is at rank #14,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɑ̃.ʁe\.

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 27604, this pair ranks #327,963 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of décrets vs denrées

Shared letters: dersé. Private to "décrets": ct. Private to "denrées": n.

"décrets" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "denrées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "décrets" for "denrées" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.kʁɛ\ versus \dɑ̃.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "décrets" vs "denrées" - which ranks higher?
"décrets" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,159 in our French list, against #14,445 for "denrées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décrets" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "denrées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #327,963 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décrets" and "denrées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denrées vs désirées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #327,963 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