Which to use
“dévorer” and “divorcer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #17,692
- “dévorer” frequency rank
- #23,836
- “divorcer” frequency rank
- 41528
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | dévorer | divorcer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Manger avec voracité et rapidité (le sujet désigne un animal carnassier). | Prononcer, demander, obtenir la dissolution d'un mariage. |
Where the eye mixes dévorer and divorcer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. dévorer runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against divorcer's 8 (CVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses dévorer with divorcer
A purely visual mix-up. dévorer (\de.vɔ.ʁe\) and divorcer (\di.vɔʁ.se\) 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 41528, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
dévorer is recorded at frequency rank #17,692, classified as averb, pronounced \de.vɔ.ʁe\. divorcer is at rank #23,836, tagged as averb, pronounced \di.vɔʁ.se\.
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 41528, this pair ranks #232,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of dévorer vs divorcer
Shared letters: deorv. Private to "dévorer": é. Private to "divorcer": ci.
"dévorer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "divorcer" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- divorcer ← ddivorcer · diovrcer · divocrer · divorccer · divorcerr · divorcre · divorecr · divorrcer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "dévorer" and "divorcer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "dévorer" vs "divorcer" - 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 "dévorer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "divorcer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #232,426 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "dévorer" and "divorcer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "divorcent vs divorcer". 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 #232,426 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.