Which to use
“dépêche” and “dépêches” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,994
- “dépêche” frequency rank
- #25,982
- “dépêches” frequency rank
- 34976
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépêche | dépêches |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Communication officielle ou privée transmise par voie plus ou moins rapide. | Pluriel de dépêche. |
Same sound, different letters: dépêche vs dépêches
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. dépêche runs 7 letters (CVCVCCV) against dépêches's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: dépêche vs dépêches
This is the hard kind. dépêche and dépêches are pronounced identically (\de.pɛʃ\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dépêche” sits inside “dépêches”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34976, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépêche is recorded at frequency rank #8,994, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.pɛʃ\. dépêches is at rank #25,982, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.pɛʃ\.
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 34976, this pair ranks #280,048 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépêche vs dépêches
Shared letters: cdehpéê. Private to "dépêche": -. Private to "dépêches": s.
"dépêche" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "dépêches" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dépêche" and "dépêches" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dépêche" or "dépêches"?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépêche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépêches" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #280,048 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépêche" and "dépêches" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs dépêche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #280,048 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.