déformevsdéformerWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: déforme is a noun, déformer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déforme” is a noun and “déformer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,576
“déforme” frequency rank
#28,526
“déformer” frequency rank
59102
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déforme déformer
Definition Baisse de forme ou de moral. Altérer dans sa forme.

Where the eye mixes déforme and déformer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
déforme
8 ch
déformer

Why the eye confuses déforme with déformer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déforme is \de.fɔʁm\ while déformer is \de.fɔʁ.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “déforme” sits inside “déformer”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59102, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déforme is recorded at frequency rank #30,576, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.fɔʁm\. déformer is at rank #28,526, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.fɔʁ.me\.

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 59102, this pair ranks #105,064 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déforme vs déformer

Shared letters: defmoré. Private to "déforme": -. Private to "déformer": -.

"déforme" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "déformer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déforme" and "déformer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déforme" is a noun and "déformer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "déforme" or "déformer"?
"déformer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,526 in our French list, against #30,576 for "déforme". 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 "déforme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déformer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,064 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déforme" and "déformer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déforme vs déforment". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #105,064 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