Which to use
“démêler” is a verb and “démêlés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,702
- “démêler” frequency rank
- #30,137
- “démêlés” frequency rank
- 56839
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démêler | démêlés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Séparer une chose d’autres choses avec lesquelles elle est mêlée. | Masculin pluriel de démêlé. |
Same sound, different letters: démêler vs démêlés
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 5 letters. démêler and démêlés follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Ear matches; page differs - démêler and démêlés
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: démêler and démêlés carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.me.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56839, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démêler is recorded at frequency rank #26,702, classified as averb, pronounced \de.me.le\. démêlés is at rank #30,137, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.me.le\.
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 56839, this pair ranks #118,598 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démêler vs démêlés
Shared letters: dlméê. Private to "démêler": er. Private to "démêlés": s.
"démêler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "démêlés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "démêler" for "démêlés" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "démêler" or "démêlés" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "démêler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démêlés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,598 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démêler" and "démêlés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs démêlés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #118,598 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.