Which to use
“dessins” and “devins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,247
- “dessins” frequency rank
- #47,827
- “devins” frequency rank
- 51074
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dessins | devins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de dessin. | Pluriel de devin. |
Where the eye mixes dessins and devins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. dessins runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against devins's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between dessins and devins
A purely visual mix-up. dessins (\de.sɛ̃\) and devins (\də.vɛ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51074, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dessins is recorded at frequency rank #3,247, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.sɛ̃\. devins is at rank #47,827, tagged as anoun, pronounced \də.vɛ̃\.
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 51074, this pair ranks #157,793 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dessins vs devins
Shared letters: deins. Private to "dessins": -. Private to "devins": v.
"dessins" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "devins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "dessins" for "devins" ever safe?
Frequency check: "dessins" vs "devins" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "dessins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "devins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #157,793 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dessins" and "devins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "déviants vs devins". 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 #157,793 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.