Which to use
“défient” and “détient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,267
- “défient” frequency rank
- #7,432
- “détient” frequency rank
- 46699
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défient | détient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défier. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de détenir. |
Where the eye mixes défient and détient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. défient and détient follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: défient vs détient
A purely visual mix-up. défient (\de.fi\) and détient (\de.tjɛ̃\) 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 a single letter - f in “défient” becomes t in “détient”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46699, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défient is recorded at frequency rank #39,267, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fi\. détient is at rank #7,432, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tjɛ̃\.
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 46699, this pair ranks #192,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défient vs détient
Shared letters: deinté. Private to "défient": f. Private to "détient": -.
"défient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "détient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défient" and "détient" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "défient" vs "détient" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "défient" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #192,837 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défient" and "détient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défient vs dérivent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #192,837 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.