Which to use
“désolée” is an adjective and “désoler” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,338
- “désolée” frequency rank
- #39,770
- “désoler” frequency rank
- 45108
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désolée | désoler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de désolé. | Transformer en solitude une région, une ville, en y exerçant des ravages. |
Same sound, different letters: désolée vs désoler
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. désolée (CVCVCVV) and désoler (CVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Ear matches; page differs - désolée and désoler
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: désolée and désoler carry the same recorded pronunciation, \de.zɔ.le\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désolée is recorded at frequency rank #5,338, classified as anadj, pronounced \de.zɔ.le\. désoler is at rank #39,770, tagged as averb, pronounced \de.zɔ.le\.
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 45108, this pair ranks #205,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désolée vs désoler
Shared letters: delosé. Private to "désolée": -. Private to "désoler": r.
"désolée" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "désoler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "désolée" and "désoler" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "désolée" or "désoler"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "désolée" / "désoler". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "désolée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "désoler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #205,339 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désolée" and "désoler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dénouer vs désoler". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #205,339 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.