Which to use
“densité” and “desire” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,546
- “densité” frequency rank
- #28,129
- “desire” frequency rank
- 33675
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | densité | desire |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Caractère de ce qui est dense. | Désir (1, 2, 3), souhait, volonté. |
Where the eye mixes densité and desire
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. densité runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against desire's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses densité with desire
A purely visual mix-up. densité (\dɑ̃.si.te\) and desire (\dɪ.ˈzaɪ.əʳ\) 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 33675, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
densité is recorded at frequency rank #5,546, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɑ̃.si.te\. desire is at rank #28,129, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɪ.ˈzaɪ.əʳ\.
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 33675, this pair ranks #289,059 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of densité vs desire
Shared letters: deis. Private to "densité": nté. Private to "desire": r.
"densité" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "desire" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- desire ← ddesire · deisre · desier · desirre · desrie · dessire · dseire · edsire
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "densité" and "desire" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "densité" vs "desire" - which ranks higher?
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 "densité" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "desire" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,059 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "densité" and "desire" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desire vs désirées". 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 #289,059 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.