Which to use
“défilé” and “dérive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,498
- “défilé” frequency rank
- #7,052
- “dérive” frequency rank
- 13550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défilé | dérive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Passage étroit où il ne peut passer que peu de personnes de front. | Écart, déviation entre le cap effectivement suivi par un navire ou un aéroplane et le cap initialement fixé. |
Where the eye mixes défilé and dérive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between défilé and dérive
A purely visual mix-up. défilé (\de.fi.le\) and dérive (\de.ʁiv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défilé is recorded at frequency rank #6,498, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fi.le\. dérive is at rank #7,052, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁiv\.
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 13550, this pair ranks #400,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défilé vs dérive
Shared letters: dié. Private to "défilé": fl. Private to "dérive": erv.
"défilé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dérive" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défilé" for "dérive" ever safe?
Which is more common, "défilé" or "dérive"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "défilé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dérive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,539 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défilé" and "dérive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décriée vs dérive". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #400,539 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.