Which to use
“délai” and “detail” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,711
- “délai” frequency rank
- #35,895
- “detail” frequency rank
- 38606
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délai | detail |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Temps accordé pour faire une chose, ou à l’expiration duquel on sera tenu de faire une certaine chose. | Détail. |
Where the eye mixes délai and detail
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. délai runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against detail's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses délai with detail
A purely visual mix-up. délai (\de.lɛ\) and detail (\ˈdi.teɪl\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38606, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délai is recorded at frequency rank #2,711, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.lɛ\. detail is at rank #35,895, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈdi.teɪl\.
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 38606, this pair ranks #254,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délai vs detail
Shared letters: adil. Private to "délai": é. Private to "detail": et.
"délai" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "detail" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- detail ← ddetail · deatil · detaill · detali · detial · dettail · dteail · edtail
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "délai" and "detail" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "délai" or "detail" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "délai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "detail" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délai" and "detail" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "detail vs devil". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #254,092 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.