Which to use
“défait” is an adjective and “devrait” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,757
- “défait” frequency rank
- #413
- “devrait” frequency rank
- 12170
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défait | devrait |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est dénoué, déconstruit, mis dans un état inconvenable, désordonné. | Troisième personne du singulier du conditionnel de devoir. |
Where the eye mixes défait and devrait
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses défait with devrait
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: défait is \de.fɛ\ while devrait is \də.vʁɛ\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12170, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défait is recorded at frequency rank #11,757, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.fɛ\. devrait is at rank #413, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vʁɛ\.
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 12170, this pair ranks #406,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défait vs devrait
Shared letters: adit. Private to "défait": fé. Private to "devrait": erv.
"défait" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "devrait" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devrait ← ddevrait · dervait · devarit · devraitt · devrati · devriat · devrrait · devvrait
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défait" for "devrait" ever safe?
Frequency check: "défait" vs "devrait" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "défait" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devrait" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,311 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défait" and "devrait" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défait vs detail". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #406,311 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.