Which to use
“défaut” and “dégoût” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,950
- “défaut” frequency rank
- #13,360
- “dégoût” frequency rank
- 15310
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défaut | dégoût |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Imperfection physique. | Manque de goût, d’appétit. |
Where the eye mixes défaut and dégoût
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. défaut and dégoût follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: défaut vs dégoût
A purely visual mix-up. défaut (\de.fo\) and dégoût (\de.ɡu\) 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 15310, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défaut is recorded at frequency rank #1,950, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fo\. dégoût is at rank #13,360, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ɡu\.
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 15310, this pair ranks #392,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défaut vs dégoût
Shared letters: dté. Private to "défaut": afu. Private to "dégoût": goû.
"défaut" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "dégoût" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défaut" and "dégoût" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "défaut" vs "dégoût" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "défaut" and "dégoût" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "défaut" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dégoût" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défaut" and "dégoût" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débouté vs dégoût". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #392,911 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.