défilementvsdévoilementWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“défilement” and “dévoilement” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#48,465
“défilement” frequency rank
#35,009
“dévoilement” frequency rank
83474
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature défilement dévoilement
Definition Méthode pour préserver des coups d’enfilade un ouvrage ou une troupe, ou résultat de cette méthode. Action de dévoiler.

Where the eye mixes défilement and dévoilement

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. défilement runs 10 letters (CVCVCVCVCC) against dévoilement's 11 (CVCVVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

10 ch
défilement
11 ch
dévoilement

Why the eye confuses défilement with dévoilement

A purely visual mix-up. défilement (\de.fil.mɑ̃\) and dévoilement (\de.vwal.mɑ̃\) 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 83474, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

défilement is recorded at frequency rank #48,465, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fil.mɑ̃\. dévoilement is at rank #35,009, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.vwal.mɑ̃\.

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 83474, this pair ranks #14,764 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of défilement vs dévoilement

Shared letters: deilmnté. Private to "défilement": f. Private to "dévoilement": ov.

"défilement" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVCC  ·  "dévoilement" · 11 letters · shape CVCVVCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "défilement" and "dévoilement" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.fil.mɑ̃\ versus \de.vwal.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "défilement" vs "dévoilement" - which ranks higher?
"dévoilement" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,009 in our French list, against #48,465 for "défilement". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "défilement" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dévoilement" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #14,764 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "défilement" and "dévoilement" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déferlement vs défilement". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #14,764 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list