Which to use
“désignent” and “dessinent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,731
- “désignent” frequency rank
- #23,510
- “dessinent” frequency rank
- 42241
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désignent | dessinent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de désigner. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de dessiner. |
Where the eye mixes désignent and dessinent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. désignent (CVCVCCVCC) and dessinent (CVCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: désignent vs dessinent
A purely visual mix-up. désignent (\de.ziɲ\) and dessinent (\de.sin\) 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 42241, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désignent is recorded at frequency rank #18,731, classified as averb, pronounced \de.ziɲ\. dessinent is at rank #23,510, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.sin\.
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 42241, this pair ranks #227,119 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désignent vs dessinent
Shared letters: deinst. Private to "désignent": gé. Private to "dessinent": -.
"désignent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC · "dessinent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- dessinent ← ddessinent · desinent · desisnent · dessiennt · dessinennt · dessinentt · dessinetn · dessinnent
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désignent" for "dessinent" ever safe?
Frequency check: "désignent" vs "dessinent" - which ranks higher?
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 "désignent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dessinent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #227,119 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désignent" and "dessinent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dessinent vs dessinez". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #227,119 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.