Which to use
“éminence” and “exigence” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #30,875
- “éminence” frequency rank
- #8,849
- “exigence” frequency rank
- 39724
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éminence | exigence |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Lieu éminent ; monticule. | Ce que l’on attend, ce que l’on exige de quelqu’un. |
Where the eye mixes éminence and exigence
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. éminence and exigence follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses éminence with exigence
A purely visual mix-up. éminence (\e.mi.nɑ̃s\) and exigence (\ɛɡ.zi.ʒɑ̃s\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39724, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éminence is recorded at frequency rank #30,875, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.mi.nɑ̃s\. exigence is at rank #8,849, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zi.ʒɑ̃s\.
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 39724, this pair ranks #245,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of éminence vs exigence
Shared letters: cein. Private to "éminence": mé. Private to "exigence": gx.
"éminence" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV · "exigence" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- exigence ← eixgence · exgience · exiegnce · exigecne · exigencce · exigenec · exigennce · exiggence
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "éminence" and "exigence" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "éminence" or "exigence"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "éminence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "exigence" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #245,852 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éminence" and "exigence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éminence vs éminente". 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 #245,852 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.