départvsdépitWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“départ” and “dépit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#769
“départ” frequency rank
#4,666
“dépit” frequency rank
5435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature départ dépit
Definition Moment précis de l'action de partir. Irritation causée par un froissement d’amour-propre, aigreur suite à la déception, à l'amertume, au sentiment de rancœur plus ou moins tenace, difficile à avouer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set départ and dépit apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
départ
5 ch
dépit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. départ (\de.paʁ\) and dépit (\de.pi\) 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 5435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

départ is recorded at frequency rank #769, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.paʁ\. dépit is at rank #4,666, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.pi\.

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 5435, this pair ranks #429,022 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of départ vs dépit

Shared letters: dpté. Private to "départ": ar. Private to "dépit": i.

"départ" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC  ·  "dépit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

départ#769
dépit#4,666

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "départ" and "dépit" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.paʁ\ versus \de.pi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "départ" or "dépit"?
"départ" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #769 in our French list, against #4,666 for "dépit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering départ vs dépit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “départ” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list