délationvsdilutionConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#38,257
“délation” frequency rank
#25,279
“dilution” frequency rank
63536
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature délation dilution
Definition Dénonciation faite dans un mauvais dessein (obtenir un avantage quelconque, tel de l’argent). Action de diluer, d'étendre avec de l'eau ou un autre solvant ; résultat de cette action.

Where the eye mixes délation and dilution

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. délation and dilution follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

8 ch
délation
8 ch
dilution

Visual trap between délation and dilution

A purely visual mix-up. délation (\de.la.sjɔ̃\) and dilution (\di.ly.sjɔ̃\) 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 63536, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

délation is recorded at frequency rank #38,257, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.la.sjɔ̃\. dilution is at rank #25,279, tagged as anoun, pronounced \di.ly.sjɔ̃\.

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 63536, this pair ranks #81,489 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of délation vs dilution

Shared letters: dilnot. Private to "délation": aé. Private to "dilution": u.

"délation" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC  ·  "dilution" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • dilution ← ddilution · dillution · diltuion · diluiton · dilutino · dilutionn · dilutoin · diluttion

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "délation" and "dilution" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.la.sjɔ̃\ versus \di.ly.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "délation" vs "dilution" - which ranks higher?
"dilution" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #25,279 in our French list, against #38,257 for "délation". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "délation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dilution" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #81,489 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "délation" and "dilution" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déflation vs délation". 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 #81,489 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