délectationvsdélégationWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#47,855
“délectation” frequency rank
#4,569
“délégation” frequency rank
52424
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature délectation délégation
Definition Jouissance consciente et vivement goûtée que procure une chose agréable. Action de déléguer une personne.

Where the eye mixes délectation and délégation

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. délectation runs 11 letters (CVCVCCVCVVC) against délégation's 10 (CVCVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

11 ch
délectation
10 ch
délégation

Look-alike desk: délectation vs délégation

A purely visual mix-up. délectation (\de.lɛk.ta.sjɔ̃\) and délégation (\de.le.ɡa.sjɔ̃\) 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 52424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

délectation is recorded at frequency rank #47,855, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.lɛk.ta.sjɔ̃\. délégation is at rank #4,569, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.le.ɡa.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 52424, this pair ranks #147,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of délectation vs délégation

Shared letters: adilnoté. Private to "délectation": ce. Private to "délégation": g.

"délectation" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVC  ·  "délégation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "délectation" for "délégation" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.lɛk.ta.sjɔ̃\ versus \de.le.ɡa.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "délectation" or "délégation"?
"délégation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,569 in our French list, against #47,855 for "délectation". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "délectation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "délégation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #147,823 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "délectation" and "délégation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délation vs délégation". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #147,823 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