Which to use
“déni” and “dents” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,206
- “déni” frequency rank
- #2,313
- “dents” frequency rank
- 13519
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déni | dents |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de dénier un fait. | Pluriel de dent. |
Where the eye mixes déni and dents
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. déni runs 4 letters (CVCV) against dents's 5 (CVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: déni vs dents
A purely visual mix-up. déni (\de.ni\) and dents (\dɑ̃\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13519, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déni is recorded at frequency rank #11,206, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ni\. dents is at rank #2,313, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɑ̃\.
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 13519, this pair ranks #400,690 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of déni vs dents
Shared letters: dn. Private to "déni": ié. Private to "dents": est.
"déni" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "dents" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dents ← ddents · dennts · denst · dentss · dentts · detns · dnets · ednts
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "déni" and "dents" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "déni" or "dents"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "déni" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dents" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #400,690 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déni" and "dents" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déni vs denim". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #400,690 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.