Which to use
“désespéré” is an adjective and “désespérée” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,558
- “désespéré” frequency rank
- #14,461
- “désespérée” frequency rank
- 27019
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désespéré | désespérée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est dans le désespoir, qui agit par désespoir. | Celle qui agit par désespoir, dans le désespoir. |
Same sound, different letters: désespéré vs désespérée
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 9 letters. désespéré runs 9 letters (CVCVCCVCV) against désespérée's 10 (CVCVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: désespéré vs désespérée
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: désespéré and désespérée carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “désespéré” sits inside “désespérée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27019, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désespéré is recorded at frequency rank #12,558, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.zɛs.pe.ʁe\. désespérée is at rank #14,461, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.zɛs.pe.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 27019, this pair ranks #331,506 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désespéré vs désespérée
Shared letters: deprsé. Private to "désespéré": -. Private to "désespérée": -.
"désespéré" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCV · "désespérée" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désespéré" for "désespérée" ever safe?
Frequency check: "désespéré" vs "désespérée" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "désespéré" / "désespérée". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "désespéré" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désespérée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #331,506 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désespéré" and "désespérée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désemparé vs désespéré". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #331,506 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.