Which to use
“demie” and “denim” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,492
- “demie” frequency rank
- #49,017
- “denim” frequency rank
- 55509
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | demie | denim |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Demi-heure. Note d’usage : On dit de une heure et demie à onze heures et demie, mais rarement les autres (sinon midi, ou minuit, et demi, qui ne sont plus de la même forme). | Tissu utilisé pour confectionner les jeans. |
Where the eye mixes demie and denim
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. demie (CVCVV) and denim (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: demie vs denim
A purely visual mix-up. demie (\də.mi\) and denim (\də.nim\) 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 55509, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
demie is recorded at frequency rank #6,492, classified as anoun, pronounced \də.mi\. denim is at rank #49,017, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.nim\.
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 55509, this pair ranks #127,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of demie vs denim
Shared letters: deim. Private to "demie": -. Private to "denim": n.
"demie" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "denim" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "demie" for "denim" ever safe?
Frequency check: "demie" vs "denim" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "demie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "denim" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #127,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "demie" and "denim" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "denim vs Deum". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #127,039 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.