Which to use
“démolition” and “désolation” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,953
- “démolition” frequency rank
- #24,952
- “désolation” frequency rank
- 36905
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | démolition | désolation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de démolir. | Extrême affliction. |
Where the eye mixes démolition and désolation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: démolition vs désolation
A purely visual mix-up. démolition (\de.mɔ.li.sjɔ̃\) and désolation (\de.zɔ.la.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36905, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
démolition is recorded at frequency rank #11,953, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.mɔ.li.sjɔ̃\. désolation is at rank #24,952, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.zɔ.la.sjɔ̃\.
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 36905, this pair ranks #266,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of démolition vs désolation
Shared letters: dilnoté. Private to "démolition": m. Private to "désolation": as.
"démolition" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "désolation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "démolition" and "désolation" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "démolition" or "désolation" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "démolition" and "désolation" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "démolition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désolation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #266,275 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "démolition" and "désolation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désolation vs dévolution". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #266,275 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.