Which to use
“délais” is a noun and “déplaise” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,551
- “délais” frequency rank
- #20,430
- “déplaise” frequency rank
- 25981
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délais | déplaise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de délai. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de déplaire. |
Where the eye mixes délais and déplaise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. délais runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against déplaise's 8 (CVCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between délais and déplaise
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: délais is \de.lɛ\ while déplaise is \de.plɛz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25981, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délais is recorded at frequency rank #5,551, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.lɛ\. déplaise is at rank #20,430, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.plɛz\.
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 25981, this pair ranks #337,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of délais vs déplaise
Shared letters: adilsé. Private to "délais": -. Private to "déplaise": ep.
"délais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "déplaise" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "délais" and "déplaise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "délais" or "déplaise"?
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 "délais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déplaise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #337,768 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délais" and "déplaise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déplaise vs déplaisent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #337,768 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.