Which to use
“délier” and “désirer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,997
- “délier” frequency rank
- #13,581
- “désirer” frequency rank
- 58578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délier | désirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dégager de ce qui lie. | Vouloir posséder un bien ou un avantage qu’on n’a pas. |
Where the eye mixes délier and désirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. délier runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against désirer's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses délier with désirer
A purely visual mix-up. délier (\de.lje\) and désirer (\de.zi.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 58578, 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\. désirer is at rank #13,581, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.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 58578, this pair ranks #108,240 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of délier vs désirer
Shared letters: deiré. Private to "délier": l. Private to "désirer": s.
"délier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "désirer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "délier" and "désirer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "délier" vs "désirer" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "délier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #108,240 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délier" and "désirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs déviée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #108,240 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.