Which to use
“indécent” is an adjective and “indûment” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,899
- “indécent” frequency rank
- #34,133
- “indûment” frequency rank
- 57032
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | indécent | indûment |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui blesse la pudeur. | D’une manière indue, injustement. |
Where the eye mixes indécent and indûment
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. indécent and indûment follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses indécent with indûment
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: indécent is \ɛ̃.de.sɑ̃\ while indûment is \ɛ̃.dy.mɑ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
indécent is recorded at frequency rank #22,899, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.de.sɑ̃\. indûment is at rank #34,133, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ɛ̃.dy.mɑ̃\.
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 57032, this pair ranks #117,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of indécent vs indûment
Shared letters: deint. Private to "indécent": cé. Private to "indûment": mû.
"indécent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "indûment" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "indécent" for "indûment" ever safe?
Which is more common, "indécent" or "indûment"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "indécent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "indûment" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #117,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "indécent" and "indûment" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "induisent vs indûment". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #117,438 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.