délibérervsdélivrerTell them apart

Which to use

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

#37,295
“délibérer” frequency rank
#10,145
“délivrer” frequency rank
47440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature délibérer délivrer
Definition Se livrer à un examen approfondi à propos d’une question. Rendre libre de ce qui oppresse, de ce qui fait souffrir, de ce qui incommode.

Where the eye mixes délibérer and délivrer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. délibérer runs 9 letters (CVCVCVCVC) against délivrer's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
délibérer
8 ch
délivrer

Why the eye confuses délibérer with délivrer

A purely visual mix-up. délibérer (\de.li.be.ʁe\) and délivrer (\de.li.vʁe\) 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 47440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

délibérer is recorded at frequency rank #37,295, classified as averb, pronounced \de.li.be.ʁe\. délivrer is at rank #10,145, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.li.vʁe\.

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 47440, this pair ranks #186,914 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of délibérer vs délivrer

Shared letters: deilré. Private to "délibérer": b. Private to "délivrer": v.

"délibérer" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCVC  ·  "délivrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "délibérer" for "délivrer" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\de.li.be.ʁe\ versus \de.li.vʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "délibérer" or "délivrer" show up more?
"délivrer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,145 in our French list, against #37,295 for "délibérer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "délibérer" and "délivrer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "délibérer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "délivrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #186,914 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "délibérer" and "délivrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délibérer vs délirer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #186,914 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