Which to use
“délices” is a noun and “délier” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,428
- “délices” frequency rank
- #44,997
- “délier” frequency rank
- 65425
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délices | délier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plaisir extrême. | Dégager de ce qui lie. |
Where the eye mixes délices and délier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. délices runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against délier's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses délices with délier
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: délices is \de.lis\ while délier is \de.lje\. 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 65425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délices is recorded at frequency rank #20,428, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.lis\. délier is at rank #44,997, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.lje\.
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 65425, this pair ranks #72,390 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of délices vs délier
Shared letters: deilé. Private to "délices": cs. Private to "délier": r.
"délices" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "délier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "délices" for "délier" ever safe?
Frequency check: "délices" vs "délier" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "délices" and "délier" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "délices" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #72,390 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délices" and "délier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs déviée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #72,390 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.