Which to use
“dégât” and “délai” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,555
- “dégât” frequency rank
- #2,711
- “délai” frequency rank
- 27266
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dégât | délai |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dommage, détérioration amenés par un accident ou une cause violente. | Temps accordé pour faire une chose, ou à l’expiration duquel on sera tenu de faire une certaine chose. |
Where the eye mixes dégât and délai
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. dégât (CVCVC) and délai (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses dégât with délai
A purely visual mix-up. dégât (\de.ɡa\) and délai (\de.lɛ\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27266, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dégât is recorded at frequency rank #24,555, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ɡa\. délai is at rank #2,711, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.lɛ\.
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 27266, this pair ranks #330,107 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dégât vs délai
Shared letters: dé. Private to "dégât": gtâ. Private to "délai": ail.
"dégât" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "délai" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dégât" for "délai" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dégât" vs "délai" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dégât" and "délai" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dégât" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délai" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #330,107 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dégât" and "délai" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dégât vs DGA". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #330,107 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.