Which to use
“desseins” and “dessins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,309
- “desseins” frequency rank
- #3,247
- “dessins” frequency rank
- 32556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | desseins | dessins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de dessein. | Pluriel de dessin. |
Same sound, different letters: desseins vs dessins
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. desseins runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCC) against dessins's 7 (CVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: desseins vs dessins
This is the hard kind. desseins and dessins 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32556, 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\. dessins is at rank #3,247, 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 32556, this pair ranks #296,498 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of desseins vs dessins
Shared letters: deins. Private to "desseins": -. Private to "dessins": -.
"desseins" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCC · "dessins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "desseins" for "dessins" ever safe?
Frequency check: "desseins" vs "dessins" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "desseins" / "dessins". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "desseins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dessins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #296,498 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "desseins" and "dessins" 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 #296,498 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.