Which to use
“désignée” and “dessinée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,957
- “désignée” frequency rank
- #8,374
- “dessinée” frequency rank
- 21331
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désignée | dessinée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de désigné. | Féminin singulier de dessiné. |
Where the eye mixes désignée and dessinée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. désignée (CVCVCCVV) and dessinée (CVCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: désignée vs dessinée
A purely visual mix-up. désignée (\de.zi.ɲe\) and dessinée (\de.si.ne\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désignée is recorded at frequency rank #12,957, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.zi.ɲe\. dessinée is at rank #8,374, tagged as anadj, pronounced \de.si.ne\.
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 21331, this pair ranks #363,721 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of désignée vs dessinée
Shared letters: deinsé. Private to "désignée": g. Private to "dessinée": -.
"désignée" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "dessinée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désignée" for "dessinée" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "désignée" or "dessinée" 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 "désignée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dessinée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #363,721 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désignée" and "dessinée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désigna vs désignée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #363,721 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.