dégagéesvsdégradéesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#31,937
“dégagées” frequency rank
#33,657
“dégradées” frequency rank
65594
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dégagées dégradées
Definition Féminin pluriel de dégagé. Féminin pluriel de dégradé.

Where the eye mixes dégagées and dégradées

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

8 ch
dégagées
9 ch
dégradées

Why the eye confuses dégagées with dégradées

A purely visual mix-up. dégagées (\de.ɡa.ʒe\) and dégradées (\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 65594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dégagées is recorded at frequency rank #31,937, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒe\. dégradées is at rank #33,657, 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 65594, this pair ranks #71,630 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dégagées vs dégradées

Shared letters: adegsé. Private to "dégagées": -. Private to "dégradées": r.

"dégagées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "dégradées" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dégagées" and "dégradées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.ɡa.ʒe\ versus \de.ɡʁa.de\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "dégagées" vs "dégradées" - which ranks higher?
"dégagées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,937 in our French list, against #33,657 for "dégradées". 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 "dégagées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dégradées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,630 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dégagées" and "dégradées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décalées vs dégagées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #71,630 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