Which to use
“délit” and “dépit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,934
- “délit” frequency rank
- #4,666
- “dépit” frequency rank
- 9600
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délit | dépit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Toute infraction, consciente ou non, aux lois. | Irritation causée par un froissement d’amour-propre, aigreur suite à la déception, à l'amertume, au sentiment de rancœur plus ou moins tenace, difficile à avouer. |
Where the eye mixes délit and dépit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses délit with dépit
A purely visual mix-up. délit (\de.li\) and dépit (\de.pi\) 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 “délit” becomes p in “dépit”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9600, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délit is recorded at frequency rank #4,934, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.li\. dépit is at rank #4,666, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.pi\.
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 9600, this pair ranks #416,081 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of délit vs dépit
Shared letters: dité. Private to "délit": l. Private to "dépit": p.
"délit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "dépit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "délit" for "dépit" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "délit" or "dépit" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "délit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #416,081 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délit" and "dépit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "délit vs démolit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #416,081 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.