Which to use
“dérogation” and “désolation” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,118
- “dérogation” frequency rank
- #24,952
- “désolation” frequency rank
- 41070
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérogation | désolation |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de déroger à une loi, à un acte quelconque de l’autorité publique, à un traité, à un usage, à des droits, etc., ou résultat de cette action. | Extrême affliction. |
Where the eye mixes dérogation and désolation
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: dérogation vs désolation
A purely visual mix-up. dérogation (\de.ʁɔ.ɡa.sjɔ̃\) and désolation (\de.zɔ.la.sjɔ̃\) 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 41070, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérogation is recorded at frequency rank #16,118, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.ʁɔ.ɡa.sjɔ̃\. désolation is at rank #24,952, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.zɔ.la.sjɔ̃\.
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 41070, this pair ranks #235,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dérogation vs désolation
Shared letters: adinoté. Private to "dérogation": gr. Private to "désolation": ls.
"dérogation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC · "désolation" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dérogation" and "désolation" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "dérogation" or "désolation"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "dérogation" and "désolation" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "dérogation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désolation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #235,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérogation" and "désolation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désolation vs dévolution". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #235,741 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.