défilésvsdevilsTell them apart

Which to use

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

#19,266
“défilés” frequency rank
#24,930
“devils” frequency rank
44196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature défilés devils
Definition Pluriel de défilé. Pluriel de devil.

Where the eye mixes défilés and devils

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. défilés runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against devils's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
défilés
6 ch
devils

Look-alike desk: défilés vs devils

A purely visual mix-up. défilés (\de.fi.le\) and devils (\ˈdɛv.əlz\) 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 44196, 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\. devils is at rank #24,930, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈdɛv.əlz\.

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 44196, this pair ranks #212,315 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of défilés vs devils

Shared letters: dils. Private to "défilés": fé. Private to "devils": ev.

"défilés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "devils" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • devils ← ddevils · deivls · devills · devilss · devisl · devlis · devvils · dveils

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "défilés" and "devils" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.fi.le\ versus \ˈdɛv.əlz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "défilés" or "devils"?
"défilés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,266 in our French list, against #24,930 for "devils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "défilés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "devils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #212,315 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "défilés" and "devils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "devils vs devins". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #212,315 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