déformentvsdévorentConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#49,044
“déforment” frequency rank
#41,759
“dévorent” frequency rank
90803
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déforment dévorent
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de déformer. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dévorer.

Where the eye mixes déforment and dévorent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. déforment runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCC) against dévorent's 8 (CVCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
déforment
8 ch
dévorent

Why the eye confuses déforment with dévorent

A purely visual mix-up. déforment (\de.fɔʁm\) and dévorent (\de.vɔʁ\) 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 90803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déforment is recorded at frequency rank #49,044, classified as averb, pronounced \de.fɔʁm\. dévorent is at rank #41,759, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vɔʁ\.

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 90803, this pair ranks #4,457 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déforment vs dévorent

Shared letters: denorté. Private to "déforment": fm. Private to "dévorent": v.

"déforment" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC  ·  "dévorent" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déforment" and "dévorent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.fɔʁm\ versus \de.vɔʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "déforment" vs "dévorent" - which ranks higher?
"dévorent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,759 in our French list, against #49,044 for "déforment". 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 "déforment" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dévorent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #4,457 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déforment" and "dévorent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décorent vs déforment". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #4,457 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