démodévsdémonWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#34,998
“démodé” frequency rank
#6,814
“démon” frequency rank
41812
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature démodé démon
Definition Qui a cessé d’être à la mode. Génie, esprit ou divinité, bon ou mauvais.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set démodé and démon apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
démodé
5 ch
démon

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: démodé is \de.mɔ.de\ while démon is \de.mɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

démodé is recorded at frequency rank #34,998, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.mɔ.de\. démon is at rank #6,814, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.mɔ̃\.

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 41812, this pair ranks #230,312 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of démodé vs démon

Shared letters: dmoé. Private to "démodé": -. Private to "démon": n.

"démodé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "démon" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

démodé#34,998
démon#6,814

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "démodé" and "démon" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "démodé" is an adjective and "démon" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "démodé" or "démon"?
"démon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,814 in our French list, against #34,998 for "démodé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering démodé vs démon

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “démodé”; for a noun, it's “démon”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “démodé” 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