Which to use
“délicat” is an adjective and “délice” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,178
- “délicat” frequency rank
- #19,267
- “délice” frequency rank
- 26445
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délicat | délice |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est d’une très grande finesse, très délié. | Plaisir extrême. |
Where the eye mixes délicat and délice
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. délicat runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against délice's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between délicat and délice
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: délicat is \de.li.ka\ while délice is \de.lis\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26445, 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\. délice is at rank #19,267, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.lis\.
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 26445, this pair ranks #334,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of délicat vs délice
Shared letters: cdilé. Private to "délicat": at. Private to "délice": e.
"délicat" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "délice" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "délicat" for "délice" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "délicat" or "délice" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "délicat" and "délice" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "délicat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délice" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délicat" and "délice" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délice vs déviée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #334,961 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.