Which to use
“dérobe” and “déroger” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,767
- “dérobe” frequency rank
- #29,747
- “déroger” frequency rank
- 69514
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérobe | déroger |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dérober. | S’écarter, de quelque manière que ce soit, de ce qui est établi par une loi, un acte de l’autorité publique, une convention, des droits, un usage, etc. |
Where the eye mixes dérobe and déroger
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dérobe runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against déroger's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dérobe and déroger
A purely visual mix-up. dérobe (\de.ʁɔb\) and déroger (\de.ʁɔ.ʒe\) 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 69514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérobe is recorded at frequency rank #39,767, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔb\. déroger is at rank #29,747, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔ.ʒe\.
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 69514, this pair ranks #54,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dérobe vs déroger
Shared letters: deoré. Private to "dérobe": b. Private to "déroger": g.
"dérobe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "déroger" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "dérobe" and "déroger" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "dérobe" or "déroger"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérobe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déroger" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérobe" and "déroger" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derme vs dérobe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #54,834 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.