Which to use
“dense” is an adjective and “DGSE” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,094
- “dense” frequency rank
- #33,639
- “DGSE” frequency rank
- 41733
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dense | DGSE |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Épais, compact, dont les parties nous paraissent plus épaisses ou plus serrées. | Service de renseignement extérieur, organisme d’État placé sous l’autorité du ministre de la Défense, et dont les missions étaient remplies jusqu’à 1982 par le Service de documentation extérieure et de contre-espionnage (SDECE). |
Where the eye mixes dense and DGSE
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses dense with DGSE
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dense is \dɑ̃s\ while DGSE is \de.ʒe.ɛs.ø\. 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 (adjective vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41733, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dense is recorded at frequency rank #8,094, classified as anadj, pronounced \dɑ̃s\. DGSE is at rank #33,639, tagged as aname, pronounced \de.ʒe.ɛs.ø\.
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 41733, this pair ranks #230,897 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dense vs DGSE
Shared letters: des. Private to "dense": n. Private to "DGSE": g.
"dense" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "DGSE" · 4 letters · shape CCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dense" and "DGSE" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "dense" or "DGSE" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "dense" and "DGSE" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dense" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "DGSE" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,897 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dense" and "DGSE" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "DGSE vs dust". 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 #230,897 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.