dépit vs déplaît, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“dépit” is a noun and “déplaît” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,666
“dépit” frequency rank: #23,189
“déplaît” frequency rank: 27855
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dépit	déplaît
Definition	Irritation causée par un froissement d’amour-propre, aigreur suite à la déception, à l'amertume, au sentiment de rancœur plus ou moins tenace, difficile à avouer.	Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déplaire.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dépit and déplaît apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

dépit

7 ch

déplaît

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dépit is \de.pi\ while déplaît is \de.plɛ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27855, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépit is recorded at frequency rank #4,666, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.pi\. déplaît is at rank #23,189, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.plɛ\.

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 27855, this pair ranks #326,351 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dépit vs déplaît

Shared letters: dpté. Private to "dépit": i. Private to "déplaît": alî.

"dépit" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "déplaît" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

dépit#4,666

déplaît#23,189

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépit" and "déplaît" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "dépit" is a noun and "déplaît" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "dépit" or "déplaît"?

"dépit" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,666 in our French list, against #23,189 for "déplaît". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dépit vs déplaît

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “dépit”; for a verb, it's “déplaît”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dépit” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable