Which to use
“démarquer” and “démasquer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,999
- “démarquer” frequency rank
- #32,793
- “démasquer” frequency rank
- 51792
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démarquer | démasquer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Démunir un objet de sa marque. | Faire reconnaître quelqu’un en ôtant le masque qu’il a sur le visage. |
Where the eye mixes démarquer and démasquer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. démarquer and démasquer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: démarquer vs démasquer
A purely visual mix-up. démarquer (\de.maʁ.ke\) and démasquer (\de.mas.ke\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - r in “démarquer” becomes s in “démasquer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51792, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démarquer is recorded at frequency rank #18,999, classified as averb, pronounced \de.maʁ.ke\. démasquer is at rank #32,793, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.mas.ke\.
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 51792, this pair ranks #152,447 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démarquer vs démasquer
Shared letters: ademqrué. Private to "démarquer": -. Private to "démasquer": s.
"démarquer" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC · "démasquer" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "démarquer" for "démasquer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "démarquer" or "démasquer"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "démarquer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démasquer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,447 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démarquer" and "démasquer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débusquer vs démasquer". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #152,447 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.