Which to use
“déplaire” and “déplaît” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,299
- “déplaire” frequency rank
- #23,189
- “déplaît” frequency rank
- 44488
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | déplaire | déplaît |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Être désagréable, en parlant des personnes. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de déplaire. |
Where the eye mixes déplaire and déplaît
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. déplaire runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against déplaît's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between déplaire and déplaît
A purely visual mix-up. déplaire (\de.plɛʁ\) and déplaît (\de.plɛ\) 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 44488, 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\. 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 44488, this pair ranks #210,105 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of déplaire vs déplaît
Shared letters: adlpé. Private to "déplaire": eir. Private to "déplaît": tî.
"déplaire" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "déplaît" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "déplaire" and "déplaît" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "déplaire" or "déplaît" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "déplaire" and "déplaît" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "déplaire" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déplaît" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #210,105 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "déplaire" and "déplaît" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déplaît vs déposait". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #210,105 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.