Which to use
“délivrer” and “dénigrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,145
- “délivrer” frequency rank
- #23,186
- “dénigrer” frequency rank
- 33331
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | délivrer | dénigrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rendre libre de ce qui oppresse, de ce qui fait souffrir, de ce qui incommode. | Entacher par son langage quelqu’un dans sa réputation. |
Where the eye mixes délivrer and dénigrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. délivrer and dénigrer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: délivrer vs dénigrer
A purely visual mix-up. délivrer (\de.li.vʁe\) and dénigrer (\de.ni.ɡʁe\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
délivrer is recorded at frequency rank #10,145, classified as averb, pronounced \de.li.vʁe\. dénigrer is at rank #23,186, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ni.ɡʁe\.
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 33331, this pair ranks #291,349 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of délivrer vs dénigrer
Shared letters: deiré. Private to "délivrer": lv. Private to "dénigrer": gn.
"délivrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "dénigrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "délivrer" and "dénigrer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "délivrer" vs "dénigrer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "délivrer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dénigrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #291,349 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "délivrer" and "dénigrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dénigre vs dénigrer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #291,349 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.