Which to use
“défie” and “déviée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,118
- “défie” frequency rank
- #45,005
- “déviée” frequency rank
- 62123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défie | déviée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de défier. | Participe passé féminin singulier de dévier. |
Where the eye mixes défie and déviée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. défie runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against déviée's 6 (CVCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between défie and déviée
A purely visual mix-up. défie (\de.fi\) and déviée (\de.vje\) 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 62123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défie is recorded at frequency rank #17,118, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fi\. déviée is at rank #45,005, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vje\.
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 62123, this pair ranks #88,715 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of défie vs déviée
Shared letters: deié. Private to "défie": f. Private to "déviée": v.
"défie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "déviée" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défie" for "déviée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "défie" or "déviée" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "défie" and "déviée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "défie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déviée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,715 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défie" and "déviée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déviée vs devins". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #88,715 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.