Which to use
“déjouer” and “dénouer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,548
- “déjouer” frequency rank
- #39,273
- “dénouer” frequency rank
- 61821
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déjouer | dénouer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faire échouer le jeu de quelqu’un. | Défaire ce qui forme un nœud, ce qui est noué, ou ce qui est retenu par un nœud. |
Where the eye mixes déjouer and dénouer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. déjouer and dénouer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses déjouer with dénouer
A purely visual mix-up. déjouer (\de.ʒwe\) and dénouer (\de.nwe\) 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 a single letter - j in “déjouer” becomes n in “dénouer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61821, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déjouer is recorded at frequency rank #22,548, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʒwe\. dénouer is at rank #39,273, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.nwe\.
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 61821, this pair ranks #90,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of déjouer vs dénouer
Shared letters: deorué. Private to "déjouer": j. Private to "dénouer": n.
"déjouer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC · "dénouer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "déjouer" and "dénouer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "déjouer" vs "dénouer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "déjouer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dénouer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déjouer" and "dénouer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dénouer vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #90,235 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.