Which to use
“délice” is a noun and “délirer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,267
- “délice” frequency rank
- #36,817
- “délirer” frequency rank
- 56084
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délice | délirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plaisir extrême. | Avoir le délire ; être en délire. |
Where the eye mixes délice and délirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. délice runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against délirer's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: délice vs délirer
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: délice is \de.lis\ while délirer is \de.li.ʁe\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56084, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délice is recorded at frequency rank #19,267, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.lis\. délirer is at rank #36,817, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.li.ʁe\.
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 56084, this pair ranks #123,350 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délice vs délirer
Shared letters: deilé. Private to "délice": c. Private to "délirer": r.
"délice" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "délirer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "délice" and "délirer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "délice" vs "délirer" - which ranks higher?
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 "délice" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,350 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délice" and "délirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs délirer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #123,350 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.