Which to use
“delete” is a verb and “détente” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,817
- “delete” frequency rank
- #8,103
- “détente” frequency rank
- 50920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | delete | détente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de deleter. | Diminution progressive de la pression d’un gaz ou d’une vapeur qui augmente de volume, ou bien de la tension d’un ressort qui revient à son équilibre. |
Where the eye mixes delete and détente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. delete runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against détente's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses delete with détente
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: delete is \di.lit\ while détente is \de.tɑ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
delete is recorded at frequency rank #42,817, classified as averb, pronounced \di.lit\. détente is at rank #8,103, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.tɑ̃t\.
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 50920, this pair ranks #158,915 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of delete vs détente
Shared letters: det. Private to "delete": l. Private to "détente": né.
"delete" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "détente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- delete ← ddelete · deelte · deleet · delette · dellete · deltee · dleete · edlete
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "delete" and "détente" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "delete" or "détente"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "delete" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,915 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "delete" and "détente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "delete vs désuète". 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 #158,915 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.