déportervsdérouterTell them apart

Which to use

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

#40,229
“déporter” frequency rank
#46,729
“dérouter” frequency rank
86958
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature déporter dérouter
Definition Punir de la peine de la déportation, exiler. Égarer quelqu’un de sa route.

Where the eye mixes déporter and dérouter

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
déporter
8 ch
dérouter

Why the eye confuses déporter with dérouter

A purely visual mix-up. déporter (\de.pɔʁ.te\) and dérouter (\de.ʁu.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86958, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

déporter is recorded at frequency rank #40,229, classified as averb, pronounced \de.pɔʁ.te\. dérouter is at rank #46,729, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁu.te\.

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 86958, this pair ranks #8,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of déporter vs dérouter

Shared letters: deorté. Private to "déporter": p. Private to "dérouter": u.

"déporter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC  ·  "dérouter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "déporter" and "dérouter" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\de.pɔʁ.te\ versus \de.ʁu.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "déporter" vs "dérouter" - which ranks higher?
"déporter" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,229 in our French list, against #46,729 for "dérouter". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "déporter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dérouter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,940 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "déporter" and "dérouter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débouté vs dérouter". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #8,940 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