Which to use
“démoli” and “démolir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,297
- “démoli” frequency rank
- #15,861
- “démolir” frequency rank
- 37158
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démoli | démolir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de démolir. | Abattre un bâtiment, une construction. |
Where the eye mixes démoli and démolir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. démoli runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against démolir's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses démoli with démolir
A purely visual mix-up. démoli (\de.mɔ.li\) and démolir (\de.mɔ.liʁ\) 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 1 extra letter(s) - “démoli” sits inside “démolir”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37158, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démoli is recorded at frequency rank #21,297, classified as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ.li\. démolir is at rank #15,861, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ.liʁ\.
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 37158, this pair ranks #264,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démoli vs démolir
Shared letters: dilmoé. Private to "démoli": -. Private to "démolir": r.
"démoli" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "démolir" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "démoli" and "démolir" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "démoli" or "démolir" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "démoli" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "démolir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #264,476 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démoli" and "démolir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démoli vs démolit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #264,476 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.