Which to use
“démolie” is a verb and “désolée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #34,999
- “démolie” frequency rank
- #5,338
- “désolée” frequency rank
- 40337
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démolie | désolée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin singulier de démolir. | Féminin singulier de désolé. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set démolie and désolée apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: démolie is \de.mɔ.li\ while désolée is \de.zɔ.le\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40337, 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\. désolée is at rank #5,338, 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 40337, this pair ranks #241,289 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démolie vs désolée
Shared letters: deloé. Private to "démolie": im. Private to "désolée": s.
"démolie" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "désolée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "démolie" and "désolée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "démolie" or "désolée"?
Remembering démolie vs désolée
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “démolie”; for an adjective, it's “désolée”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “démolie” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable