Which to use
“dépêcher” and “détacher” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #25,981
- “dépêcher” frequency rank
- #13,369
- “détacher” frequency rank
- 39350
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépêcher | détacher |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Envoyer quelqu’un en hâte avec des ordres, une commission. | Débarrasser d’une tache, de taches. |
Where the eye mixes dépêcher and détacher
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dépêcher and détacher follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: dépêcher vs détacher
A purely visual mix-up. dépêcher (\de.pe.ʃe\) and détacher (\de.ta.ʃe\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39350, 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\. détacher is at rank #13,369, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ta.ʃe\.
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 39350, this pair ranks #248,650 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dépêcher vs détacher
Shared letters: cdehré. Private to "dépêcher": pê. Private to "détacher": at.
"dépêcher" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "détacher" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dépêcher" and "détacher" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dépêcher" vs "détacher" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "détacher" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #248,650 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépêcher" and "détacher" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "décocher vs dépêcher". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #248,650 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.