Which to use
“désirées” is an adjective and “désirer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,732
- “désirées” frequency rank
- #13,581
- “désirer” frequency rank
- 60313
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désirées | désirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de désiré. | Vouloir posséder un bien ou un avantage qu’on n’a pas. |
Same sound, different letters: désirées vs désirer
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. désirées runs 8 letters (CVCVCVVC) against désirer's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: désirées vs désirer
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: désirées and désirer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.zi.ʁe\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désirées is recorded at frequency rank #46,732, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.zi.ʁe\. désirer is at rank #13,581, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zi.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 60313, this pair ranks #98,263 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of désirées vs désirer
Shared letters: deirsé. Private to "désirées": -. Private to "désirer": -.
"désirées" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVVC · "désirer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "désirées" and "désirer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "désirées" or "désirer"?
After this comparison
You've separated the homophone pair "désirées" / "désirer". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "désirées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,263 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désirées" and "désirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désirées vs désireuses". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #98,263 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.