Which to use
“dégagé” is an adjective and “dégât” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,648
- “dégagé” frequency rank
- #24,555
- “dégât” frequency rank
- 34203
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dégagé | dégât |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualifie une allure, une démarche qui semble n'être pas gênée par quoi que ce soit. | Dommage, détérioration amenés par un accident ou une cause violente. |
Where the eye mixes dégagé and dégât
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dégagé and dégât
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dégagé is \de.ɡa.ʒe\ while dégât is \de.ɡa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34203, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dégagé is recorded at frequency rank #9,648, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒe\. dégât is at rank #24,555, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ɡa\.
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 34203, this pair ranks #285,451 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dégagé vs dégât
Shared letters: dgé. Private to "dégagé": a. Private to "dégât": tâ.
"dégagé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "dégât" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dégagé" for "dégât" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dégagé" or "dégât"?
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 "dégagé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dégât" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #285,451 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dégagé" and "dégât" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dégât vs DGA". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #285,451 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.