Which to use
“dégager” and “déroger” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,751
- “dégager” frequency rank
- #29,747
- “déroger” frequency rank
- 35498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dégager | déroger |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | S’écarter, de quelque manière que ce soit, de ce qui est établi par une loi, un acte de l’autorité publique, une convention, des droits, un usage, etc. |
Where the eye mixes dégager and déroger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dégager and déroger follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses dégager with déroger
A purely visual mix-up. dégager (\de.ɡa.ʒe\) and déroger (\de.ʁɔ.ʒe\) 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 35498, 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\. déroger is at rank #29,747, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔ.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 35498, this pair ranks #276,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dégager vs déroger
Shared letters: degré. Private to "dégager": a. Private to "déroger": o.
"dégager" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "déroger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dégager" and "déroger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "dégager" vs "déroger" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
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 "déroger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #276,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dégager" and "déroger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déroger vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #276,339 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.