demiesvsdémuniesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#42,819
“demies” frequency rank
#45,570
“démunies” frequency rank
88389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature demies démunies
Definition Féminin pluriel de demi. Féminin pluriel de démuni.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set demies and démunies apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
demies
8 ch
démunies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. demies (\də.mi\) and démunies (\de.my.ni\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

demies is recorded at frequency rank #42,819, classified as anadj, pronounced \də.mi\. démunies is at rank #45,570, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.my.ni\.

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 88389, this pair ranks #7,058 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of demies vs démunies

Shared letters: deims. Private to "demies": -. Private to "démunies": nué.

"demies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "démunies" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • demiesddemies · deimes · demeis · demiess · demise · demmies · dmeies · edmies

Frequency comparison

demies#42,819
démunies#45,570

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "demies" and "démunies" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\də.mi\ versus \de.my.ni\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "demies" or "démunies"?
"demies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,819 in our French list, against #45,570 for "démunies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering demies vs démunies

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 “demies” 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