Which to use
“délices” and “délires” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #20,428
- “délices” frequency rank
- #13,161
- “délires” frequency rank
- 33589
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délices | délires |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Plaisir extrême. | Pluriel de délire. |
Where the eye mixes délices and délires
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. délices and délires follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between délices and délires
A purely visual mix-up. délices (\de.lis\) and délires (\de.liʁ\) 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 a single letter - c in “délices” becomes r in “délires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33589, 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\. délires is at rank #13,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.liʁ\.
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 33589, this pair ranks #289,604 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délices vs délires
Shared letters: deilsé. Private to "délices": c. Private to "délires": r.
"délices" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "délires" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "délices" and "délires" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "délices" or "délires"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "délices" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,604 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délices" and "délires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délices vs délier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #289,604 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.