Which to use
“défaite” is a noun and “dépité” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,121
- “défaite” frequency rank
- #35,482
- “dépité” frequency rank
- 37603
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défaite | dépité |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Déroute d’une armée ou de quelques troupes. | Qui éprouve du dépit. |
Where the eye mixes défaite and dépité
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. défaite runs 7 letters (CVCVVCV) against dépité's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses défaite with dépité
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: défaite is \de.fɛt\ while dépité is \de.pi.te\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défaite is recorded at frequency rank #2,121, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fɛt\. dépité is at rank #35,482, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.pi.te\.
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 37603, this pair ranks #261,334 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défaite vs dépité
Shared letters: dité. Private to "défaite": aef. Private to "dépité": p.
"défaite" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV · "dépité" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défaite" and "dépité" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "défaite" vs "dépité" - 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 "défaite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépité" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #261,334 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défaite" and "dépité" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déduite vs dépité". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #261,334 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.