Which to use
“dérivée” and “dérobée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,550
- “dérivée” frequency rank
- #37,298
- “dérobée” frequency rank
- 59848
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérivée | dérobée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Limite du taux d’accroissement d’une fonction d'une variable réelle en un point quand l’accroissement de la variable tend vers zéro. | Danse traditionnelle bretonne. |
Where the eye mixes dérivée and dérobée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dérivée and dérobée follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: dérivée vs dérobée
A purely visual mix-up. dérivée (\de.ʁi.ve\) and dérobée (\de.ʁɔ.be\) 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 59848, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérivée is recorded at frequency rank #22,550, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁi.ve\. dérobée is at rank #37,298, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁɔ.be\.
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 59848, this pair ranks #100,869 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dérivée vs dérobée
Shared letters: deré. Private to "dérivée": iv. Private to "dérobée": bo.
"dérivée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "dérobée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dérivée" and "dérobée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "dérivée" vs "dérobée" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérivée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dérobée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #100,869 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérivée" and "dérobée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dérobée vs déroge". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #100,869 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.