Which to use
“délit” is a noun and “déplaît” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,934
- “délit” frequency rank
- #23,189
- “déplaît” frequency rank
- 28123
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délit | déplaît |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Toute infraction, consciente ou non, aux lois. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déplaire. |
Where the eye mixes délit and déplaît
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. délit runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against déplaît's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between délit and déplaît
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: délit is \de.li\ while déplaît is \de.plɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28123, 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\. déplaît is at rank #23,189, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.plɛ\.
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 28123, this pair ranks #324,779 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délit vs déplaît
Shared letters: dlté. Private to "délit": i. Private to "déplaît": apî.
"délit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "déplaît" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "délit" and "déplaît" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "délit" or "déplaît" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "délit" and "déplaît" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "délit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déplaît" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #324,779 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délit" and "déplaît" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déplaît vs déposait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #324,779 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.