Which to use
“délicat” and “délicate” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,178
- “délicat” frequency rank
- #7,430
- “délicate” frequency rank
- 14608
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délicat | délicate |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est d’une très grande finesse, très délié. | Féminin singulier de délicat. |
Where the eye mixes délicat and délicate
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. délicat runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against délicate's 8 (CVCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses délicat with délicate
A purely visual mix-up. délicat (\de.li.ka\) and délicate (\de.li.kat\) 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 extra letter(s) - “délicat” sits inside “délicate”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délicat is recorded at frequency rank #7,178, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.li.ka\. délicate is at rank #7,430, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.li.kat\.
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 14608, this pair ranks #395,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of délicat vs délicate
Shared letters: acdilté. Private to "délicat": -. Private to "délicate": e.
"délicat" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "délicate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "délicat" and "délicate" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "délicat" or "délicate"?
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 "délicat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délicate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #395,942 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délicat" and "délicate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délicate vs délirante". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #395,942 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.