Which to use
“dérobe” and “déroule” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,767
- “dérobe” frequency rank
- #5,031
- “déroule” frequency rank
- 44798
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérobe | déroule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dérober. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dérouler. |
Where the eye mixes dérobe and déroule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dérobe runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against déroule's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dérobe with déroule
A purely visual mix-up. dérobe (\de.ʁɔb\) and déroule (\de.ʁul\) 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 44798, 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\. déroule is at rank #5,031, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁul\.
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 44798, this pair ranks #207,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérobe vs déroule
Shared letters: deoré. Private to "dérobe": b. Private to "déroule": lu.
"dérobe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "déroule" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dérobe" for "déroule" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dérobe" vs "déroule" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "dérobe" and "déroule" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérobe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déroule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #207,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérobe" and "déroule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derme vs dérobe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #207,729 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.