démentvsdémentiWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: dément is a adjective, démenti is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“dément” is an adjective and “démenti” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#13,364
“dément” frequency rank
#16,347
“démenti” frequency rank
29711
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dément démenti
Definition Qui est dans l’état de démence. Action de nier la véracité de ce que quelqu’un a affirmé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dément and démenti apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
dément
7 ch
démenti

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dément is \de.mɑ̃\ while démenti is \de.mɑ̃.ti\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dément” sits inside “démenti”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29711, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dément is recorded at frequency rank #13,364, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.mɑ̃\. 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 29711, this pair ranks #314,966 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dément vs démenti

Shared letters: demnté. Private to "dément": -. Private to "démenti": i.

"dément" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "démenti" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Frequency comparison

dément#13,364
démenti#16,347

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dément" and "démenti" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dément" is an adjective and "démenti" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "dément" or "démenti"?
"dément" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,364 in our French list, against #16,347 for "démenti". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dément vs démenti

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “dément”; for a noun, it's “démenti”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dément” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list