Which to use
“démolie” is a verb and “désolé” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,999
- “démolie” frequency rank
- #1,390
- “désolé” frequency rank
- 36389
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démolie | désolé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin singulier de démolir. | Désert ; ravagé ; triste. |
Where the eye mixes démolie and désolé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. démolie runs 7 letters (CVCVCVV) against désolé's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between démolie and désolé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: démolie is \de.mɔ.li\ while désolé is \de.zɔ.le\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démolie is recorded at frequency rank #34,999, classified as averb, pronounced \de.mɔ.li\. désolé is at rank #1,390, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.zɔ.le\.
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 36389, this pair ranks #269,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démolie vs désolé
Shared letters: dloé. Private to "démolie": eim. Private to "désolé": s.
"démolie" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "désolé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "démolie" for "désolé" ever safe?
Which is more common, "démolie" or "désolé"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "démolie" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désolé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #269,961 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démolie" and "désolé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "démolie vs démolit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #269,961 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.