Which to use
“déplaire” and “déplaise” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,299
- “déplaire” frequency rank
- #20,430
- “déplaise” frequency rank
- 41729
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déplaire | déplaise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Être désagréable, en parlant des personnes. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de déplaire. |
Where the eye mixes déplaire and déplaise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. déplaire and déplaise follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses déplaire with déplaise
A purely visual mix-up. déplaire (\de.plɛʁ\) and déplaise (\de.plɛz\) 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 a single letter - r in “déplaire” becomes s in “déplaise”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41729, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
déplaire is recorded at frequency rank #21,299, classified as averb, pronounced \de.plɛʁ\. déplaise is at rank #20,430, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.plɛz\.
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 41729, this pair ranks #230,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déplaire vs déplaise
Shared letters: adeilpé. Private to "déplaire": r. Private to "déplaise": s.
"déplaire" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "déplaise" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "déplaire" and "déplaise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "déplaire" or "déplaise" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "déplaire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déplaise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #230,939 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déplaire" and "déplaise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "declare vs déplaire". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #230,939 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.