délugevsdiluéeWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#15,611
“déluge” frequency rank
#37,274
“diluée” frequency rank
52885
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déluge diluée
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. Participe passé féminin singulier de diluer.

Where the eye mixes déluge and diluée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. déluge (CVCVCV) and diluée (CVCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
déluge
6 ch
diluée

Visual trap between déluge and diluée

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déluge is \de.lyʒ\ while diluée is \di.lɥe\. 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 52885, 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\. diluée is at rank #37,274, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.lɥe\.

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 52885, this pair ranks #144,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déluge vs diluée

Shared letters: delué. Private to "déluge": g. Private to "diluée": i.

"déluge" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "diluée" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déluge" and "diluée" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "déluge" is a noun and "diluée" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "déluge" or "diluée" show up more?
"déluge" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,611 in our French list, against #37,274 for "diluée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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 "diluée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #144,575 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déluge" and "diluée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "diluée vs diluer". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #144,575 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