déçuesvsdénuéeConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,735
“déçues” frequency rank
#28,144
“dénuée” frequency rank
74879
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déçues dénuée
Definition Féminin pluriel de déçu. Féminin singulier de dénué.

Where the eye mixes déçues and dénuée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. déçues (CVCVVC) and dénuée (CVCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
déçues
6 ch
dénuée

Visual trap between déçues and dénuée

A purely visual mix-up. déçues (\de.sy\) and dénuée (\de.nɥe\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74879, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déçues is recorded at frequency rank #46,735, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.sy\. dénuée is at rank #28,144, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.nɥe\.

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 74879, this pair ranks #35,738 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déçues vs dénuée

Shared letters: deué. Private to "déçues": sç. Private to "dénuée": n.

"déçues" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "dénuée" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "déçues" for "dénuée" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.sy\ versus \de.nɥe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "déçues" or "dénuée"?
"dénuée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,144 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.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "déçues" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dénuée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #35,738 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déçues" and "dénuée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs déçues". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #35,738 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