déplairevsdéploieWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“déplaire” and “déploie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,299
“déplaire” frequency rank
#13,367
“déploie” frequency rank
34666
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déplaire déploie
Definition Être désagréable, en parlant des personnes. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de déployer.

Where the eye mixes déplaire and déploie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. déplaire runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against déploie's 7 (CVCCVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
déplaire
7 ch
déploie

Look-alike desk: déplaire vs déploie

A purely visual mix-up. déplaire (\de.plɛʁ\) and déploie (\de.plwa\) 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 34666, 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\. déploie is at rank #13,367, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.plwa\.

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 34666, this pair ranks #282,251 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déplaire vs déploie

Shared letters: deilpé. Private to "déplaire": ar. Private to "déploie": o.

"déplaire" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "déploie" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déplaire" and "déploie" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.plɛʁ\ versus \de.plwa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "déplaire" or "déploie" show up more?
"déploie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,367 in our French list, against #21,299 for "déplaire". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "déplaire" and "déploie" 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 "déploie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #282,251 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déplaire" and "déploie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "declare vs déplaire". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #282,251 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list