Which to use
“délier” and “dévier” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #44,997
- “délier” frequency rank
- #22,248
- “dévier” frequency rank
- 67245
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délier | dévier |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dégager de ce qui lie. | Se détourner ; être détourné de sa direction. |
Where the eye mixes délier and dévier
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses délier with dévier
A purely visual mix-up. délier (\de.lje\) and dévier (\de.vje\) 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 - l in “délier” becomes v in “dévier”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67245, 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\. dévier is at rank #22,248, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vje\.
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 67245, this pair ranks #64,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of délier vs dévier
Shared letters: deiré. Private to "délier": l. Private to "dévier": v.
"délier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "dévier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "délier" for "dévier" ever safe?
Frequency check: "délier" vs "dévier" - 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 "dévier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,248 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délier" and "dévier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délier vs déviée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #64,248 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.