dément vs démentis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“dément” and “démentis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,364
“dément” frequency rank: #43,398
“démentis” frequency rank: 56762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dément	démentis
Definition	Qui est dans l’état de démence.	Masculin pluriel de démenti.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

dément

8 ch

démentis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. dément (\de.mɑ̃\) and démentis (\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 differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “dément” sits inside “démentis”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56762, 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\. démentis is at rank #43,398, tagged as anadj, 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 56762, this pair ranks #119,078 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dément vs démentis

Shared letters: demnté. Private to "dément": -. Private to "démentis": is.

"dément" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "démentis" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC

Frequency comparison

dément#13,364

démentis#43,398

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dément" and "démentis" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\de.mɑ̃\ versus \de.mɑ̃.ti\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "dément" or "démentis"?

"dément" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,364 in our French list, against #43,398 for "démentis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dément vs démentis

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
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