Which to use
“délier” and “délivrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,997
- “délier” frequency rank
- #10,145
- “délivrer” frequency rank
- 55142
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délier | délivrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dégager de ce qui lie. | Rendre libre de ce qui oppresse, de ce qui fait souffrir, de ce qui incommode. |
Where the eye mixes délier and délivrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. délier runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against délivrer's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses délier with délivrer
A purely visual mix-up. délier (\de.lje\) and délivrer (\de.li.vʁe\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55142, 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\. délivrer is at rank #10,145, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.li.vʁe\.
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 55142, this pair ranks #129,422 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délier vs délivrer
Shared letters: deilré. Private to "délier": -. Private to "délivrer": v.
"délier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "délivrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "délier" and "délivrer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "délier" or "délivrer"?
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 "délier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "délivrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #129,422 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délier" and "délivrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs déviée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #129,422 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.