Which to use
“démence” is a noun and “démonte” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,183
- “démence” frequency rank
- #24,949
- “démonte” frequency rank
- 43132
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démence | démonte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aliénation mentale chronique, acquise et évolutive, dont l'étiologie est diverse. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de démonter. |
Where the eye mixes démence and démonte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. démence and démonte 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 démonte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: démence is \de.mɑ̃s\ while démonte is \de.mɔ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43132, 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\. démonte is at rank #24,949, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ̃t\.
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 43132, this pair ranks #220,375 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démence vs démonte
Shared letters: demné. Private to "démence": c. Private to "démonte": ot.
"démence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "démonte" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "démence" for "démonte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "démence" vs "démonte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "démence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démonte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #220,375 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démence" and "démonte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débouté vs démonte". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #220,375 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.