déplorevsdévoreTell them apart

Which to use

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

#13,162
“déplore” frequency rank
#22,838
“dévore” frequency rank
36000
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déplore dévore
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de déplorer. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dévorer.

Where the eye mixes déplore and dévore

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. déplore runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against dévore's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
déplore
6 ch
dévore

Why the eye confuses déplore with dévore

A purely visual mix-up. déplore (\de.plɔʁ\) and dévore (\de.vɔʁ\) 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 36000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déplore is recorded at frequency rank #13,162, classified as averb, pronounced \de.plɔʁ\. dévore is at rank #22,838, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vɔʁ\.

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 36000, this pair ranks #272,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of déplore vs dévore

Shared letters: deoré. Private to "déplore": lp. Private to "dévore": v.

"déplore" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "dévore" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "déplore" and "dévore" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.plɔʁ\ versus \de.vɔʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "déplore" or "dévore" show up more?
"déplore" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,162 in our French list, against #22,838 for "dévore". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "déplore" and "dévore" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déplore" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dévore" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #272,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déplore" and "dévore" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Delors vs dévore". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #272,711 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