Which to use
“défilés” and “délires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,266
- “défilés” frequency rank
- #13,161
- “délires” frequency rank
- 32427
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | défilés | délires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de défilé. | Pluriel de délire. |
Where the eye mixes défilés and délires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. défilés and délires follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between défilés and délires
A purely visual mix-up. défilés (\de.fi.le\) and délires (\de.liʁ\) 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 32427, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
défilés is recorded at frequency rank #19,266, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fi.le\. délires is at rank #13,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.liʁ\.
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 32427, this pair ranks #297,363 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of défilés vs délires
Shared letters: dilsé. Private to "défilés": f. Private to "délires": er.
"défilés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "délires" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "défilés" for "délires" ever safe?
Frequency check: "défilés" vs "délires" - which ranks higher?
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 "défilés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #297,363 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "défilés" and "délires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "défilés vs demies". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #297,363 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.