Which to use
“dégager” and “déranger” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,751
- “dégager” frequency rank
- #9,650
- “déranger” frequency rank
- 15401
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dégager | déranger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rendre à quelqu’un sa parole, ne pas exiger qu’il tienne sa promesse, l’affranchir de la responsabilité à laquelle il était tenu. | Ôter une chose de son rang, de sa place ; mettre en désordre ce qui était arrangé. |
Where the eye mixes dégager and déranger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dégager runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against déranger's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dégager and déranger
A purely visual mix-up. dégager (\de.ɡa.ʒe\) and déranger (\de.ʁɑ̃.ʒe\) 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 15401, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dégager is recorded at frequency rank #5,751, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ɡa.ʒe\. déranger is at rank #9,650, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɑ̃.ʒe\.
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 15401, this pair ranks #392,514 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dégager vs déranger
Shared letters: adegré. Private to "dégager": -. Private to "déranger": n.
"dégager" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "déranger" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dégager" for "déranger" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "dégager" or "déranger" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dégager" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déranger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #392,514 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dégager" and "déranger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démange vs déranger". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #392,514 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.