Which to use
“dérobe” is a verb and “déroute” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #39,767
- “dérobe” frequency rank
- #14,460
- “déroute” frequency rank
- 54227
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérobe | déroute |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de dérober. | Fuite de troupes qui ont été défaites ou qui ont pris l’épouvante d’elles-mêmes. |
Where the eye mixes dérobe and déroute
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dérobe runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against déroute's 7 (CVCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: dérobe vs déroute
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: dérobe is \de.ʁɔb\ while déroute is \de.ʁut\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54227, 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\. déroute is at rank #14,460, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁut\.
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 54227, this pair ranks #135,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérobe vs déroute
Shared letters: deoré. Private to "dérobe": b. Private to "déroute": tu.
"dérobe" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "déroute" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dérobe" for "déroute" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dérobe" vs "déroute" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérobe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "déroute" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #135,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérobe" and "déroute" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "derme vs dérobe". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #135,399 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.