empilervsexpierConfusable pair

Which to use

“empiler” and “expier” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,266
“empiler” frequency rank
#43,421
“expier” frequency rank
84687
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empiler expier
Definition Mettre en pile. Réparer un crime, une faute par le repentir, ou une peine, un châtiment imposé ou accepté.

Where the eye mixes empiler and expier

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
empiler
6 ch
expier

Look-alike desk: empiler vs expier

A purely visual mix-up. empiler (\ɑ̃.pi.le\) and expier (\ɛk.spje\) 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 84687, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empiler is recorded at frequency rank #41,266, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pi.le\. expier is at rank #43,421, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛk.spje\.

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 84687, this pair ranks #12,534 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of empiler vs expier

Shared letters: eipr. Private to "empiler": lm. Private to "expier": x.

"empiler" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "expier" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • empileremipler · emmpiler · empielr · empilerr · empiller · empilre · emplier · emppiler
  • expierepxier · exiper · expeir · exppier · exxpier · xepier

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empiler" and "expier" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.pi.le\ versus \ɛk.spje\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "empiler" or "expier" show up more?
"empiler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,266 in our French list, against #43,421 for "expier". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "empiler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "expier" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,534 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empiler" and "expier" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs expier". 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 #12,534 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list