Which to use
“desseins” and “dessin” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,309
- “desseins” frequency rank
- #2,117
- “dessin” frequency rank
- 31426
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desseins | dessin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de dessein. | Représentation d’objets, de personnages, de paysages, etc. sur une surface à l’aide d’un crayon, à la plume, au pinceau ou par tout autre instrument. |
Same sound, different letters: desseins vs dessin
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters.
Homophone desk: desseins vs dessin
This is the hard kind. desseins and dessin are pronounced identically (\de.sɛ̃\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
desseins is recorded at frequency rank #29,309, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.sɛ̃\. dessin is at rank #2,117, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.sɛ̃\.
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 31426, this pair ranks #303,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of desseins vs dessin
Shared letters: deins. Private to "desseins": -. Private to "dessin": -.
"desseins" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "dessin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "desseins" and "dessin" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "desseins" or "dessin"?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "desseins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dessin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #303,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desseins" and "dessin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "desseins vs dessina". 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 #303,853 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.