Which to use
“démange” is a verb and “démence” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #40,226
- “démange” frequency rank
- #18,183
- “démence” frequency rank
- 58409
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démange | démence |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de démanger. | Aliénation mentale chronique, acquise et évolutive, dont l'étiologie est diverse. |
Where the eye mixes démange and démence
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. démange and démence follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between démange and démence
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: démange is \de.mɑ̃ʒ\ while démence is \de.mɑ̃s\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58409, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démange is recorded at frequency rank #40,226, classified as averb, pronounced \de.mɑ̃ʒ\. démence is at rank #18,183, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.mɑ̃s\.
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 58409, this pair ranks #109,236 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of démange vs démence
Shared letters: demné. Private to "démange": ag. Private to "démence": c.
"démange" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "démence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "démange" and "démence" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "démange" or "démence"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "démange" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démence" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #109,236 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démange" and "démence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "damage vs démange". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #109,236 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.