Which to use
“défilent” and “dévoilent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,122
- “défilent” frequency rank
- #24,204
- “dévoilent” frequency rank
- 44326
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défilent | dévoilent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de défiler. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dévoiler. |
Where the eye mixes défilent and dévoilent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. défilent runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCC) against dévoilent's 9 (CVCVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between défilent and dévoilent
A purely visual mix-up. défilent (\de.fil\) and dévoilent (\de.vwal\) 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 44326, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défilent is recorded at frequency rank #20,122, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fil\. dévoilent is at rank #24,204, 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 44326, this pair ranks #211,264 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défilent vs dévoilent
Shared letters: deilnté. Private to "défilent": f. Private to "dévoilent": ov.
"défilent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "dévoilent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défilent" for "dévoilent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "défilent" or "dévoilent"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "défilent" and "dévoilent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "défilent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dévoilent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #211,264 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défilent" and "dévoilent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décollent vs dévoilent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #211,264 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.