Which to use
“dérober” and “désoler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,527
- “dérober” frequency rank
- #39,770
- “désoler” frequency rank
- 63297
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérober | désoler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enlever ou voler en cachette. | Transformer en solitude une région, une ville, en y exerçant des ravages. |
Where the eye mixes dérober and désoler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dérober vs désoler
A purely visual mix-up. dérober (\de.ʁɔ.be\) and désoler (\de.zɔ.le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63297, 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\. désoler is at rank #39,770, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zɔ.le\.
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 63297, this pair ranks #82,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dérober vs désoler
Shared letters: deoré. Private to "dérober": b. Private to "désoler": ls.
"dérober" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "désoler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dérober" and "désoler" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dérober" or "désoler"?
Useful next steps
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 "désoler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #82,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérober" and "désoler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dénouer vs désoler". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #82,693 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.