Which to use
“défient” and “devaient” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,267
- “défient” frequency rank
- #3,249
- “devaient” frequency rank
- 42516
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défient | devaient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défier. | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de devoir. |
Where the eye mixes défient and devaient
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses défient with devaient
A purely visual mix-up. défient (\de.fi\) and devaient (\də.vɛ\) 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 42516, 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\. devaient is at rank #3,249, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vɛ\.
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 42516, this pair ranks #225,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défient vs devaient
Shared letters: deint. Private to "défient": fé. Private to "devaient": av.
"défient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "devaient" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devaient ← ddevaient · deavient · devaeint · devaiennt · devaientt · devaietn · devainet · deviaent
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défient" and "devaient" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "défient" vs "devaient" - 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 "devaient" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #225,024 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défient" and "devaient" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défient vs dérivent". 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 #225,024 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.