Which to use
“dégagée” and “dégradée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,602
- “dégagée” frequency rank
- #24,948
- “dégradée” frequency rank
- 41550
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dégagée | dégradée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de dégagé. | Féminin singulier de dégradé. |
Where the eye mixes dégagée and dégradée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dégagée runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against dégradée's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dégagée vs dégradée
A purely visual mix-up. dégagée (\de.ɡa.ʒe\) and dégradée (\de.ɡʁa.de\) 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 41550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dégagée is recorded at frequency rank #16,602, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒe\. dégradée is at rank #24,948, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.ɡʁa.de\.
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 41550, this pair ranks #232,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dégagée vs dégradée
Shared letters: adegé. Private to "dégagée": -. Private to "dégradée": r.
"dégagée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "dégradée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dégagée" and "dégradée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "dégagée" vs "dégradée" - which ranks higher?
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 "dégagée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dégradée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,292 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dégagée" and "dégradée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débridée vs dégradée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #232,292 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.