Which to use
“dérouler” and “dérouter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,956
- “dérouler” frequency rank
- #46,729
- “dérouter” frequency rank
- 58685
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dérouler | dérouter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Étendre ce qui était roulé et le mettre de son long. | Égarer quelqu’un de sa route. |
Where the eye mixes dérouler and dérouter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. dérouler and dérouter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between dérouler and dérouter
A purely visual mix-up. dérouler (\de.ʁu.le\) and dérouter (\de.ʁu.te\) 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 a single letter - l in “dérouler” becomes t in “dérouter”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58685, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dérouler is recorded at frequency rank #11,956, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ʁu.le\. dérouter is at rank #46,729, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.ʁu.te\.
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 58685, this pair ranks #107,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of dérouler vs dérouter
Shared letters: deorué. Private to "dérouler": l. Private to "dérouter": t.
"dérouler" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC · "dérouter" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dérouler" for "dérouter" ever safe?
Which is more common, "dérouler" or "dérouter"?
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 "dérouler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dérouter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #107,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dérouler" and "dérouter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "débouté vs dérouter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #107,540 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.