démarquervsdémasquerWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set démarquer and démasquer apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
démarquer
9 ch
démasquer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

démarquer#18,999
démasquer#32,793

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "démarquer" and "démasquer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.maʁ.ke\ versus \de.mas.ke\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "démarquer" or "démasquer"?
"démarquer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,999 in our French list, against #32,793 for "démasquer". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering démarquer vs démasquer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “démarquer” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list