Which to use
“derme” is a noun and “dérobe” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,692
- “derme” frequency rank
- #39,767
- “dérobe” frequency rank
- 86459
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | derme | dérobe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tissu qui forme la partie la plus épaisse de la peau entre l’épiderme et l'hypoderme. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dérober. |
Where the eye mixes derme and dérobe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses derme with dérobe
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: derme is \dɛʁm\ while dérobe is \de.ʁɔb\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86459, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
derme is recorded at frequency rank #46,692, classified as anoun, pronounced \dɛʁm\. dérobe is at rank #39,767, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔb\.
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 86459, this pair ranks #9,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of derme vs dérobe
Shared letters: der. Private to "derme": m. Private to "dérobe": boé.
"derme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "dérobe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- derme ← dderme · demre · derem · dermme · derrme · dreme · edrme
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "derme" for "dérobe" ever safe?
Frequency check: "derme" vs "dérobe" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "derme" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dérobe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #9,670 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "derme" and "dérobe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dèche vs derme". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #9,670 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.