Which to use
“démêler” and “demeurer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,702
- “démêler” frequency rank
- #10,483
- “demeurer” frequency rank
- 37185
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démêler | demeurer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Séparer une chose d’autres choses avec lesquelles elle est mêlée. | S’arrêter assez longtemps en un lieu. — Note d’usage : Conjugué avec l’auxiliaire être. |
Where the eye mixes démêler and demeurer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. démêler runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against demeurer's 8 (CVCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between démêler and demeurer
A purely visual mix-up. démêler (\de.me.le\) and demeurer (\də.mœ.ʁe\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37185, 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\. demeurer is at rank #10,483, tagged as averb, pronounced \də.mœ.ʁe\.
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 37185, this pair ranks #264,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démêler vs demeurer
Shared letters: demr. Private to "démêler": léê. Private to "demeurer": u.
"démêler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "demeurer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- demeurer ← ddemeurer · deemurer · demeruer · demeuerr · demeurerr · demeurrer · demmeurer · demuerer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "démêler" for "demeurer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "démêler" vs "demeurer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "démêler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "demeurer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,261 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démêler" and "demeurer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décèle vs démêler". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #264,261 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.