dévaluationvsdévastationTell them apart

Which to use

“dévaluation” and “dévastation” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#23,851
“dévaluation” frequency rank
#35,486
“dévastation” frequency rank
59337
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature dévaluation dévastation
Definition Baisse intentionnelle ou délibérée de la valeur officielle de la monnaie d’un pays par rapport à la monnaie d’un autre pays ou d’une valeur de référence, comme par exemple celle de l’or. Action de dévaster ou résultat de cette action.

Where the eye mixes dévaluation and dévastation

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

11 ch
dévaluation
11 ch
dévastation

Why the eye confuses dévaluation with dévastation

A purely visual mix-up. dévaluation (\de.va.lɥa.sjɔ̃\) and dévastation (\de.vas.ta.sjɔ̃\) 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 59337, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

dévaluation is recorded at frequency rank #23,851, classified as anoun, pronounced \de.va.lɥa.sjɔ̃\. dévastation is at rank #35,486, tagged as anoun, pronounced \de.vas.ta.sjɔ̃\.

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 59337, this pair ranks #103,715 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of dévaluation vs dévastation

Shared letters: adinotvé. Private to "dévaluation": lu. Private to "dévastation": s.

"dévaluation" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCVVCVVC  ·  "dévastation" · 11 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "dévaluation" and "dévastation" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\de.va.lɥa.sjɔ̃\ versus \de.vas.ta.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "dévaluation" or "dévastation"?
"dévaluation" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,851 in our French list, against #35,486 for "dévastation". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "dévaluation" and "dévastation" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "dévaluation" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "dévastation" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #103,715 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "dévaluation" and "dévastation" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "dévaluation vs dévolution". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #103,715 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list