Which to use
“defender” and “défends” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,412
- “defender” frequency rank
- #13,577
- “défends” frequency rank
- 57989
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | defender | défends |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Défendre. | Première personne de l’indicatif présent du verbe défendre. |
Where the eye mixes defender and défends
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between defender and défends
A purely visual mix-up. defender (\de.fenˈdeɾ\) and défends (\de.fɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
defender is recorded at frequency rank #44,412, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fenˈdeɾ\. défends is at rank #13,577, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃\.
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 57989, this pair ranks #111,695 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of defender vs défends
Shared letters: defn. Private to "defender": r. Private to "défends": sé.
"defender" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "défends" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- defender ← ddefender · deefnder · defedner · defendder · defenderr · defenedr · defennder · deffender
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "defender" for "défends" ever safe?
Frequency check: "defender" vs "défends" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "defender" and "défends" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "defender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "défends" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #111,695 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "defender" and "défends" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "defender vs défendit". 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 #111,695 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.