décrisvsdéçuesConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#24,189
“décris” frequency rank
#46,735
“déçues” frequency rank
70924
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature décris déçues
Definition Pluriel de décri. Féminin pluriel de déçu.

Where the eye mixes décris and déçues

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. décris (CVCCVC) and déçues (CVCVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
décris
6 ch
déçues

Why the eye confuses décris with déçues

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: décris is \de.kʁi\ while déçues is \de.sy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70924, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

décris is recorded at frequency rank #24,189, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.kʁi\. déçues is at rank #46,735, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.sy\.

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 70924, this pair ranks #49,464 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of décris vs déçues

Shared letters: dsé. Private to "décris": cir. Private to "déçues": euç.

"décris" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "déçues" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "décris" for "déçues" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "décris" is a noun and "déçues" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "décris" vs "déçues" - which ranks higher?
"décris" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,189 in our French list, against #46,735 for "déçues". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "décris" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déçues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #49,464 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "décris" and "déçues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçues". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #49,464 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