dépourvu vs dépourvue, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#14,916
“dépourvu” frequency rank: #22,549
“dépourvue” frequency rank: 37465
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	dépourvu	dépourvue
Definition	Privé de, sans, qui manque de quelque chose.	Féminin singulier de dépourvu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set dépourvu and dépourvue apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

dépourvu

9 ch

dépourvue

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. dépourvu and dépourvue are pronounced identically (\de.puʁ.vy\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “dépourvu” sits inside “dépourvue”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37465, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dépourvu is recorded at frequency rank #14,916, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.puʁ.vy\. dépourvue is at rank #22,549, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.puʁ.vy\.

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 37465, this pair ranks #262,327 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of dépourvu vs dépourvue

Shared letters: dopruvé. Private to "dépourvu": -. Private to "dépourvue": e.

"dépourvu" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV · "dépourvue" · 9 letters · shape CVCVVCCVV

Frequency comparison

dépourvu#14,916

dépourvue#22,549

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dépourvu" and "dépourvue" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\de.puʁ.vy\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "dépourvu" or "dépourvue"?

"dépourvu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,916 in our French list, against #22,549 for "dépourvue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering dépourvu vs dépourvue

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “dépourvu” entry
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