Which to use
“démence” and “démenti” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,183
- “démence” frequency rank
- #16,347
- “démenti” frequency rank
- 34530
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démence | démenti |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aliénation mentale chronique, acquise et évolutive, dont l'étiologie est diverse. | Action de nier la véracité de ce que quelqu’un a affirmé. |
Where the eye mixes démence and démenti
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. démence and démenti follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses démence with démenti
A purely visual mix-up. démence (\de.mɑ̃s\) and démenti (\de.mɑ̃.ti\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34530, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démence is recorded at frequency rank #18,183, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.mɑ̃s\. démenti is at rank #16,347, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.mɑ̃.ti\.
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 34530, this pair ranks #283,185 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démence vs démenti
Shared letters: demné. Private to "démence": c. Private to "démenti": it.
"démence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "démenti" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "démence" for "démenti" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "démence" or "démenti" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "démence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démenti" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,185 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démence" and "démenti" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décents vs démenti". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #283,185 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.