Which to use
“dépensée” and “dispensée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #43,400
- “dépensée” frequency rank
- #37,275
- “dispensée” frequency rank
- 80675
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dépensée | dispensée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin singulier de dépenser. | Participe passé féminin singulier de dispenser. |
Where the eye mixes dépensée and dispensée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dépensée runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVV) against dispensée's 9 (CVCCVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dépensée with dispensée
A purely visual mix-up. dépensée (\de.pɑ̃.se\) and dispensée (\dis.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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80675, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dépensée is recorded at frequency rank #43,400, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɑ̃.se\. dispensée is at rank #37,275, tagged as averb, pronounced \dis.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 80675, this pair ranks #20,414 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dépensée vs dispensée
Shared letters: denpsé. Private to "dépensée": -. Private to "dispensée": i.
"dépensée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "dispensée" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dépensée" and "dispensée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "dépensée" or "dispensée" show up more?
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 "dépensée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dispensée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #20,414 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dépensée" and "dispensée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dépensée vs dépensés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #20,414 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.