Which to use
“dénigre” and “dénigrer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #40,731
- “dénigre” frequency rank
- #23,186
- “dénigrer” frequency rank
- 63917
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dénigre | dénigrer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dénigrer. | Entacher par son langage quelqu’un dans sa réputation. |
Where the eye mixes dénigre and dénigrer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dénigre runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against dénigrer's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dénigre and dénigrer
A purely visual mix-up. dénigre (\de.niɡʁ\) and dénigrer (\de.ni.ɡʁe\) 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) - “dénigre” sits inside “dénigrer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63917, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dénigre is recorded at frequency rank #40,731, classified as averb, pronounced \de.niɡʁ\. dénigrer is at rank #23,186, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ni.ɡʁe\.
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 63917, this pair ranks #79,547 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dénigre vs dénigrer
Shared letters: deginré. Private to "dénigre": -. Private to "dénigrer": -.
"dénigre" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "dénigrer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dénigre" for "dénigrer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dénigre" vs "dénigrer" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dénigre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dénigrer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #79,547 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dénigre" and "dénigrer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dengue vs dénigre". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #79,547 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.