Which to use
“désactive” and “désactivée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,003
- “désactive” frequency rank
- #46,731
- “désactivée” frequency rank
- 81734
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désactive | désactivée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de désactiver. | Participe passé féminin singulier de désactiver. |
Where the eye mixes désactive and désactivée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. désactive runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against désactivée's 10 (CVCVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: désactive vs désactivée
A purely visual mix-up. désactive (\de.zak.tiv\) and désactivée (\de.zak.ti.ve\) 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 81734, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désactive is recorded at frequency rank #35,003, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zak.tiv\. désactivée is at rank #46,731, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zak.ti.ve\.
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 81734, this pair ranks #18,135 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of désactive vs désactivée
Shared letters: acdeistvé. Private to "désactive": -. Private to "désactivée": -.
"désactive" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "désactivée" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désactive" for "désactivée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "désactive" or "désactivée" show up more?
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 "désactive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désactivée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #18,135 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désactive" and "désactivée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désactivée vs désactiver". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #18,135 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.