Which to use
“dépêcher” and “dépenser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,981
- “dépêcher” frequency rank
- #6,609
- “dépenser” frequency rank
- 32590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépêcher | dépenser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Envoyer quelqu’un en hâte avec des ordres, une commission. | Employer telle ou telle somme à l’achat de telle ou telle chose. |
Where the eye mixes dépêcher and dépenser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dépêcher and dépenser follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between dépêcher and dépenser
A purely visual mix-up. dépêcher (\de.pe.ʃe\) and dépenser (\de.pɑ̃.se\) 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 32590, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépêcher is recorded at frequency rank #25,981, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pe.ʃe\. dépenser is at rank #6,609, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.se\.
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 32590, this pair ranks #296,277 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépêcher vs dépenser
Shared letters: depré. Private to "dépêcher": chê. Private to "dépenser": ns.
"dépêcher" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "dépenser" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dépêcher" for "dépenser" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "dépêcher" or "dépenser" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dépêcher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dépenser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,277 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépêcher" and "dépenser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décocher vs dépêcher". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #296,277 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.