Which to use
“défendre” is a verb and “dégénéré” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,660
- “défendre” frequency rank
- #17,938
- “dégénéré” frequency rank
- 19598
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défendre | dégénéré |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Protéger, soutenir, quelqu'un ou quelque chose contre une attaque, une agression. | Qui a subi une dégénérescence. |
Where the eye mixes défendre and dégénéré
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. défendre (CVCVCCCV) and dégénéré (CVCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses défendre with dégénéré
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: défendre is \de.fɑ̃dʁ\ while dégénéré is \de.ʒe.ne.ʁe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19598, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défendre is recorded at frequency rank #1,660, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɑ̃dʁ\. dégénéré is at rank #17,938, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.ʒe.ne.ʁe\.
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 19598, this pair ranks #372,468 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défendre vs dégénéré
Shared letters: dnré. Private to "défendre": ef. Private to "dégénéré": g.
"défendre" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCCV · "dégénéré" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défendre" and "dégénéré" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "défendre" or "dégénéré" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "défendre" and "dégénéré" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "défendre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dégénéré" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #372,468 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défendre" and "dégénéré" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dégénéré vs dégénérée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #372,468 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.