Which to use
“dérober” and “dévorer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,527
- “dérober” frequency rank
- #17,692
- “dévorer” frequency rank
- 41219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérober | dévorer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enlever ou voler en cachette. | Manger avec voracité et rapidité (le sujet désigne un animal carnassier). |
Where the eye mixes dérober and dévorer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dérober vs dévorer
A purely visual mix-up. dérober (\de.ʁɔ.be\) and dévorer (\de.vɔ.ʁe\) 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 41219, 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\. dévorer is at rank #17,692, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vɔ.ʁe\.
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 41219, this pair ranks #234,724 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérober vs dévorer
Shared letters: deoré. Private to "dérober": b. Private to "dévorer": v.
"dérober" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "dévorer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dérober" and "dévorer" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "dérober" or "dévorer" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérober" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dévorer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #234,724 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérober" and "dévorer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dérober vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #234,724 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.