Which to use
“désirer” and “dévorer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,581
- “désirer” frequency rank
- #17,692
- “dévorer” frequency rank
- 31273
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désirer | dévorer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Vouloir posséder un bien ou un avantage qu’on n’a pas. | Manger avec voracité et rapidité (le sujet désigne un animal carnassier). |
Where the eye mixes désirer and dévorer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: désirer vs dévorer
A purely visual mix-up. désirer (\de.zi.ʁe\) and dévorer (\de.vɔ.ʁe\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désirer is recorded at frequency rank #13,581, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zi.ʁe\. dévorer is at rank #17,692, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.vɔ.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 31273, this pair ranks #304,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désirer vs dévorer
Shared letters: deré. Private to "désirer": is. Private to "dévorer": ov.
"désirer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "dévorer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désirer" for "dévorer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "désirer" vs "dévorer" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "désirer" and "dévorer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "désirer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dévorer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #304,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désirer" and "dévorer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "désirer vs désister". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #304,835 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.