dégustevsdétesteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#31,465
“déguste” frequency rank
#2,363
“déteste” frequency rank
33828
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déguste déteste
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de déguster. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de détester.

Where the eye mixes déguste and déteste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. déguste and déteste follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
déguste
7 ch
déteste

Look-alike desk: déguste vs déteste

A purely visual mix-up. déguste (\de.ɡyst\) and déteste (\de.tɛst\) 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 33828, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déguste is recorded at frequency rank #31,465, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ɡyst\. déteste is at rank #2,363, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.tɛst\.

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 33828, this pair ranks #288,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déguste vs déteste

Shared letters: desté. Private to "déguste": gu. Private to "déteste": -.

"déguste" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "déteste" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déguste" and "déteste" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.ɡyst\ versus \de.tɛst\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "déguste" or "déteste" show up more?
"déteste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,363 in our French list, against #31,465 for "déguste". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déguste" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déteste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #288,012 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déguste" and "déteste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déduite vs déguste". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #288,012 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