Which to use
“démence” and “détenue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,183
- “démence” frequency rank
- #15,613
- “détenue” frequency rank
- 33796
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démence | détenue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Aliénation mentale chronique, acquise et évolutive, dont l'étiologie est diverse. | Femme détenue. |
Where the eye mixes démence and détenue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. démence (CVCVCCV) and détenue (CVCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: démence vs détenue
A purely visual mix-up. démence (\de.mɑ̃s\) and détenue (\de.tə.ny\) 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 33796, 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\. détenue is at rank #15,613, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.tə.ny\.
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 33796, this pair ranks #288,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démence vs détenue
Shared letters: dené. Private to "démence": cm. Private to "détenue": tu.
"démence" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "détenue" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "démence" and "détenue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "démence" or "détenue" show up more?
Useful next steps
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 "détenue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démence" and "détenue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "détendus vs détenue". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #288,221 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.