Which to use
“délier” and “délirer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,997
- “délier” frequency rank
- #36,817
- “délirer” frequency rank
- 81814
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délier | délirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dégager de ce qui lie. | Avoir le délire ; être en délire. |
Where the eye mixes délier and délirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. délier runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against délirer's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: délier vs délirer
A purely visual mix-up. délier (\de.lje\) and délirer (\de.li.ʁe\) 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 81814, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délier is recorded at frequency rank #44,997, classified as averb, pronounced \de.lje\. 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 81814, this pair ranks #17,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of délier vs délirer
Shared letters: deilré. Private to "délier": -. Private to "délirer": -.
"délier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "délirer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "délier" for "délirer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "délier" or "délirer"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "délier" and "délirer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "délier" 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 #17,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délier" and "délirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs déviée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #17,981 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.