Which to use
“délégués” and “détenues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,231
- “délégués” frequency rank
- #19,822
- “détenues” frequency rank
- 28053
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délégués | détenues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de délégué. | Féminin pluriel de détenu. |
Where the eye mixes délégués and détenues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. délégués and détenues follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: délégués vs détenues
A purely visual mix-up. délégués (\de.le.ɡe\) and détenues (\de.tə.ny\) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délégués is recorded at frequency rank #8,231, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.le.ɡe\. détenues is at rank #19,822, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.tə.ny\.
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 28053, this pair ranks #325,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délégués vs détenues
Shared letters: dsué. Private to "délégués": gl. Private to "détenues": ent.
"délégués" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "détenues" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "délégués" for "détenues" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "délégués" or "détenues" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "délégués" and "détenues" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "délégués" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détenues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #325,198 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délégués" and "détenues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détendus vs détenues". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #325,198 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.