Which to use
“défient” and “devint” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,267
- “défient” frequency rank
- #5,122
- “devint” frequency rank
- 44389
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défient | devint |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défier. | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de devenir. |
Where the eye mixes défient and devint
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. défient runs 7 letters (CVCVVCC) against devint's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses défient with devint
A purely visual mix-up. défient (\de.fi\) and devint (\də.vɛ̃\) 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 44389, 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\. devint is at rank #5,122, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vɛ̃\.
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 44389, this pair ranks #210,803 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défient vs devint
Shared letters: deint. Private to "défient": fé. Private to "devint": v.
"défient" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC · "devint" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- devint ← ddevint · deivnt · devinnt · devintt · devitn · devnit · devvint · dveint
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défient" for "devint" ever safe?
Frequency check: "défient" vs "devint" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "devint" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,803 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défient" and "devint" 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 #210,803 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.