Which to use
“dénués” and “détenues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #42,844
- “dénués” frequency rank
- #19,822
- “détenues” frequency rank
- 62666
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dénués | détenues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de dénué. | Féminin pluriel de détenu. |
Where the eye mixes dénués and détenues
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dénués runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against détenues's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dénués with détenues
A purely visual mix-up. dénués (\de.nɥe\) and détenues (\de.tə.ny\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62666, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dénués is recorded at frequency rank #42,844, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.nɥe\. détenues is at rank #19,822, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.tə.ny\.
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 62666, this pair ranks #85,966 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dénués vs détenues
Shared letters: dnsué. Private to "dénués": -. Private to "détenues": et.
"dénués" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "détenues" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dénués" and "détenues" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "dénués" or "détenues" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dénués" and "détenues" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dénués" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "détenues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #85,966 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dénués" and "détenues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déçues vs dénués". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #85,966 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.