Which to use
“dégager” and “déraper” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,751
- “dégager” frequency rank
- #38,772
- “déraper” frequency rank
- 44523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dégager | déraper |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | Quitter prise sur le fond en parlant d’une ancre, ce qui a pour effet de faire dériver le navire. |
Where the eye mixes dégager and déraper
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dégager and déraper follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between dégager and déraper
A purely visual mix-up. dégager (\de.ɡa.ʒe\) and déraper (\de.ʁa.pe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44523, 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\. déraper is at rank #38,772, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁa.pe\.
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 44523, this pair ranks #209,846 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dégager vs déraper
Shared letters: aderé. Private to "dégager": g. Private to "déraper": p.
"dégager" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "déraper" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dégager" for "déraper" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dégager" or "déraper"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "dégager" and "déraper" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dégager" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déraper" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #209,846 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dégager" and "déraper" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déraper vs draper". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #209,846 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.