poésie

\pɔ.e.zi\

/\pɔ.e.zi\/ noun

The verdict

“poésie” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #3,160 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#3,160
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - (Traditionnellement) Art de faire des ouvrages en vers.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

poésie vs pose
67% similar
poésie vs poste
67% similar
poésie vs poète
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for poésie
PropertyValue
Headwordpoésie
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɔ.e.zi\
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,160
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “poésie” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). poésie lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for poésie is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɔ.e.zi\. Corpus data places it at rank #3,160 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for poésie, with forms such as "opésie", "poesie", and "poséie". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "pose", "poste", "poète", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is poésie, spelled P-O-É-S-I-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    (Traditionnellement) Art de faire des ouvrages en vers.
  2. 2
    À l’époque moderne, genre littéraire qui se caractérise par une exploration poussée des formes du langage et des potentialités du texte.
  3. 3
    Corpus d’œuvres poétiques partageant une caractéristique thématique, géographique, historique, etc.
  4. 4
    Art et manière de faire des vers, de la simple versification.
  5. 5
    Qualités essentielles au genre poétique.
  6. 6
    Dimension poétique (qui fait appel à un sens de l’esthétique et à des formes figurées) d’un ouvrage en prose.
  7. 7
    Liberté, richesse particulière aux pensées, aux expressions, aux tours que l’on emploie dans la poésie.
  8. 8
    Ce qu’il y a d’élevé, de touchant dans une œuvre, dans le caractère ou la beauté d’une personne, dans les aspects de la nature ou dans une situation.
  9. 9
    Ensemble des ouvrages en vers composés dans une langue, ou selon leurs caractères communs les plus généraux, ou des traits auxquels se reconnaît la manière d’un poète.
  10. 10
    Ouvrage en vers ; il ne se dit guère que des ouvrages de peu d’étendue et s’emploie surtout en parlant des modernes.
  11. 11
    Classe de cinquième secondaire, équivalente à la première française, où l’on enseigne la poésie.

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: opésie,poesie,poséie,poéise,poései,poéssie,ppoésie,péosie

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of poésie - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

opésie2poesie1poséie2poéise2poései2poéssie1ppoésie1péosie2
Edit distance from "poésie"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "poésie"?
"poésie" is spelled P-O-É-S-I-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pɔ.e.zi\.
What does "poésie" mean?
As a noun, "poésie" means: (Traditionnellement) Art de faire des ouvrages en vers.
What words are commonly confused with "poésie"?
"poésie" is commonly confused with "pose", "poste", "poète". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "poésie"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "poésie" is \pɔ.e.zi\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "poésie" come from?
"poésie" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “poésie”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-O-É-S-I-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pɔ.e.zi\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “pose” - see the side-by-side comparison. poésie vs pose
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list