Which to use
“délicate” and “délirante” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,430
- “délicate” frequency rank
- #30,996
- “délirante” frequency rank
- 38426
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délicate | délirante |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de délicat. | Féminin singulier de délirant. |
Where the eye mixes délicate and délirante
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. délicate runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against délirante's 9 (CVCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between délicate and délirante
A purely visual mix-up. délicate (\de.li.kat\) and délirante (\de.li.ʁɑ̃t\) 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 38426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délicate is recorded at frequency rank #7,430, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.li.kat\. délirante is at rank #30,996, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.li.ʁɑ̃t\.
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 38426, this pair ranks #255,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délicate vs délirante
Shared letters: adeilté. Private to "délicate": c. Private to "délirante": nr.
"délicate" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "délirante" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "délicate" for "délirante" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "délicate" or "délirante" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "délicate" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délirante" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #255,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délicate" and "délirante" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délirante vs délirants". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #255,342 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.