délugevsdérogeConfusable pair

Quick tell: déluge is a noun, déroge is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“déluge” is a noun and “déroge” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,611
“déluge” frequency rank
#43,401
“déroge” frequency rank
59012
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déluge déroge
Definition Selon le mythe biblique, l’inondation provoquée par Dieu voulant détruire l’humanité, dont seuls quelques hommes réchappent, notamment dans un récit parmi d’autres : Noé et son arche. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de déroger.

Where the eye mixes déluge and déroge

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
déluge
6 ch
déroge

Visual trap between déluge and déroge

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déluge is \de.lyʒ\ while déroge is \de.ʁɔʒ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déluge is recorded at frequency rank #15,611, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.lyʒ\. déroge is at rank #43,401, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔʒ\.

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 59012, this pair ranks #105,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déluge vs déroge

Shared letters: degé. Private to "déluge": lu. Private to "déroge": or.

"déluge" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "déroge" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déluge" and "déroge" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déluge" is a noun and "déroge" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "déluge" or "déroge" show up more?
"déluge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,611 in our French list, against #43,401 for "déroge". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déluge" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "déroge" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,584 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déluge" and "déroge" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derme vs déroge". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #105,584 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list