dégagé vs déroge, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“dégagé” is an adjective and “déroge” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,648
“dégagé” frequency rank: #43,401
“déroge” frequency rank: 53049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dégagé	déroge
Definition	Qualifie une allure, une démarche qui semble n'être pas gênée par quoi que ce soit.	Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de déroger.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dégagé and déroge apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

dégagé

6 ch

déroge

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dégagé is \de.ɡa.ʒe\ while déroge is \de.ʁɔʒ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53049, 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\. déroge is at rank #43,401, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔʒ\.

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 53049, this pair ranks #143,453 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dégagé vs déroge

Shared letters: dgé. Private to "dégagé": a. Private to "déroge": eor.

"dégagé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "déroge" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

dégagé#9,648

déroge#43,401

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dégagé" and "déroge" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dégagé" is an adjective and "déroge" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "dégagé" or "déroge"?

"dégagé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,648 in our French list, against #43,401 for "déroge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dégagé vs déroge

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dégagé”; for a verb, it's “déroge”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dégagé” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable