Which to use
“dérober” and “désobéir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,527
- “dérober” frequency rank
- #38,261
- “désobéir” frequency rank
- 61788
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérober | désobéir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enlever ou voler en cachette. | Ne pas obéir, refuser d’obéir à quelqu’un, soit en faisant ce qui est défendu, soit en ne faisant pas ce qui est commandé, refuser de se soumettre à une volonté. |
Where the eye mixes dérober and désobéir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dérober runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against désobéir's 8 (CVCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dérober and désobéir
A purely visual mix-up. dérober (\de.ʁɔ.be\) and désobéir (\de.zo.be.iʁ\) 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 61788, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérober is recorded at frequency rank #23,527, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʁɔ.be\. désobéir is at rank #38,261, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zo.be.iʁ\.
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 61788, this pair ranks #90,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dérober vs désobéir
Shared letters: bdoré. Private to "dérober": e. Private to "désobéir": is.
"dérober" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "désobéir" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dérober" for "désobéir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dérober" vs "désobéir" - 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 "dérober" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désobéir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #90,431 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérober" and "désobéir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désobéir vs désoler". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #90,431 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.