Which to use
“défilé” is a noun and “dévoile” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,498
- “défilé” frequency rank
- #7,180
- “dévoile” frequency rank
- 13678
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défilé | dévoile |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Passage étroit où il ne peut passer que peu de personnes de front. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dévoiler. |
Where the eye mixes défilé and dévoile
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between défilé and dévoile
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: défilé is \de.fi.le\ while dévoile is \de.vwal\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13678, 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\. dévoile is at rank #7,180, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vwal\.
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 13678, this pair ranks #400,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of défilé vs dévoile
Shared letters: dilé. Private to "défilé": f. Private to "dévoile": eov.
"défilé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dévoile" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "défilé" and "dévoile" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "défilé" or "dévoile"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "défilé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dévoile" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,002 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défilé" and "dévoile" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs défilé". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #400,002 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.