dédicacevsdélicateWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#11,756
“dédicace” frequency rank
#7,430
“délicate” frequency rank
19186
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dédicace délicate
Definition Action de dédier un lieu au culte divin. Féminin singulier de délicat.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dédicace and délicate apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
dédicace
8 ch
délicate

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dédicace is \de.di.kas\ while délicate is \de.li.kat\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 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 19186, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dédicace is recorded at frequency rank #11,756, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.di.kas\. délicate is at rank #7,430, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.li.kat\.

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 19186, this pair ranks #374,528 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of dédicace vs délicate

Shared letters: acdeié. Private to "dédicace": -. Private to "délicate": lt.

"dédicace" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV  ·  "délicate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Frequency comparison

dédicace#11,756
délicate#7,430

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dédicace" and "délicate" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dédicace" is a noun and "délicate" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dédicace" or "délicate"?
"délicate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,430 in our French list, against #11,756 for "dédicace". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dédicace vs délicate

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dédicace”; for an adjective, it's “délicate”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dédicace” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list