Which to use
“élisent” and “épuisent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,820
- “élisent” frequency rank
- #35,346
- “épuisent” frequency rank
- 70166
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | élisent | épuisent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de élire. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de épuiser. |
Where the eye mixes élisent and épuisent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. élisent runs 7 letters (VCVCVCC) against épuisent's 8 (VCVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: élisent vs épuisent
A purely visual mix-up. élisent (\e.liz\) and épuisent (\e.pɥiz\) 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 70166, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
élisent is recorded at frequency rank #34,820, classified as averb, pronounced \e.liz\. épuisent is at rank #35,346, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.pɥiz\.
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 70166, this pair ranks #52,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of élisent vs épuisent
Shared letters: einsté. Private to "élisent": l. Private to "épuisent": pu.
"élisent" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCC · "épuisent" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "élisent" and "épuisent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "élisent" or "épuisent" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "élisent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "épuisent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,378 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "élisent" and "épuisent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épuisante vs épuisent". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,378 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.