Which to use
“déféré” and “défie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,775
- “déféré” frequency rank
- #17,118
- “défie” frequency rank
- 54893
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déféré | défie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de déférer. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de défier. |
Where the eye mixes déféré and défie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. déféré runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against défie's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: déféré vs défie
A purely visual mix-up. déféré (\de.fe.ʁe\) and défie (\de.fi\) 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 54893, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déféré is recorded at frequency rank #37,775, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fe.ʁe\. défie is at rank #17,118, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.fi\.
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 54893, this pair ranks #130,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déféré vs défie
Shared letters: dfé. Private to "déféré": r. Private to "défie": ei.
"déféré" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "défie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "déféré" for "défie" ever safe?
Which is more common, "déféré" or "défie"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "déféré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "défie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déféré" and "défie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs déféré". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #130,981 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.