Which to use
“désoler” and “dévorer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #39,770
- “désoler” frequency rank
- #17,692
- “dévorer” frequency rank
- 57462
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | désoler | dévorer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Transformer en solitude une région, une ville, en y exerçant des ravages. | Manger avec voracité et rapidité (le sujet désigne un animal carnassier). |
Where the eye mixes désoler and dévorer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. désoler and dévorer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses désoler with dévorer
A purely visual mix-up. désoler (\de.zɔ.le\) 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 57462, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
désoler is recorded at frequency rank #39,770, classified as averb, pronounced \de.zɔ.le\. 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 57462, this pair ranks #114,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of désoler vs dévorer
Shared letters: deoré. Private to "désoler": ls. Private to "dévorer": v.
"désoler" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "dévorer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "désoler" for "dévorer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "désoler" vs "dévorer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "désoler" 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 #114,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "désoler" and "dévorer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dénouer vs désoler". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #114,899 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.