Which to use
“dépêche” and “dépense” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,994
- “dépêche” frequency rank
- #4,855
- “dépense” frequency rank
- 13849
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépêche | dépense |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Communication officielle ou privée transmise par voie plus ou moins rapide. | L’argent qu’on emploie à quelque chose que ce puisse être. |
Where the eye mixes dépêche and dépense
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between dépêche and dépense
A purely visual mix-up. dépêche (\de.pɛʃ\) and dépense (\de.pɑ̃s\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13849, 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\. dépense is at rank #4,855, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.pɑ̃s\.
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 13849, this pair ranks #399,295 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of dépêche vs dépense
Shared letters: depé. Private to "dépêche": chê. Private to "dépense": ns.
"dépêche" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "dépense" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dépêche" and "dépense" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dépêche" or "dépense"?
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 "dépêche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépense" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #399,295 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépêche" and "dépense" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs dépêche". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #399,295 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.