Which to use
“défier” and “deviner” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,556
- “défier” frequency rank
- #7,420
- “deviner” frequency rank
- 19976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défier | deviner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Provoquer à une lutte, au duel. | Prédire ce qui doit arriver, découvrir, par des sortilèges, ce qui est caché. |
Where the eye mixes défier and deviner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: défier vs deviner
A purely visual mix-up. défier (\de.fje\) and deviner (\də.vi.ne\) 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 19976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défier is recorded at frequency rank #12,556, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fje\. deviner is at rank #7,420, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.vi.ne\.
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 19976, this pair ranks #370,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défier vs deviner
Shared letters: deir. Private to "défier": fé. Private to "deviner": nv.
"défier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "deviner" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- deviner ← ddeviner · deivner · devienr · devinerr · devinner · devinre · devnier · devviner
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défier" and "deviner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "défier" vs "deviner" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "défier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "deviner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,563 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défier" and "deviner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défier vs déviée". 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 #370,563 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.