Which to use
“déménage” is a verb and “démence” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,147
- “déménage” frequency rank
- #18,183
- “démence” frequency rank
- 30330
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déménage | démence |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de déménager. | Aliénation mentale chronique, acquise et évolutive, dont l'étiologie est diverse. |
Where the eye mixes déménage and démence
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. déménage runs 8 letters (CVCVCVCV) against démence's 7 (CVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between déménage and démence
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: déménage is \de.me.naʒ\ while démence is \de.mɑ̃s\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30330, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déménage is recorded at frequency rank #12,147, classified as averb, pronounced \de.me.naʒ\. 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 30330, this pair ranks #311,080 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déménage vs démence
Shared letters: demné. Private to "déménage": ag. Private to "démence": c.
"déménage" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV · "démence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "déménage" for "démence" ever safe?
Which is more common, "déménage" or "démence"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "déménage" and "démence" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "déménage" 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 #311,080 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déménage" and "démence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démange vs démence". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #311,080 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.