Which to use
“désactive” and “désactiver” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,003
- “désactive” frequency rank
- #14,253
- “désactiver” frequency rank
- 49256
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désactive | désactiver |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de désactiver. | Arrêter une des fonctionnalités de quelque chose qui fonctionne. |
Where the eye mixes désactive and désactiver
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. désactive runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against désactiver's 10 (CVCVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between désactive and désactiver
A purely visual mix-up. désactive (\de.zak.tiv\) and désactiver (\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 extra letter(s) - “désactive” sits inside “désactiver”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49256, 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\. désactiver is at rank #14,253, 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 49256, this pair ranks #172,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désactive vs désactiver
Shared letters: acdeistvé. Private to "désactive": -. Private to "désactiver": r.
"désactive" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "désactiver" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "désactive" and "désactiver" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "désactive" or "désactiver"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "désactive" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désactiver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #172,123 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désactive" and "désactiver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désactive vs désactivée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #172,123 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.