empilésvsépilerConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#46,138
“empilés” frequency rank
#32,250
“épiler” frequency rank
78388
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature empilés épiler
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de empiler. Dégarnir des poils, des cheveux.

Where the eye mixes empilés and épiler

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. empilés runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against épiler's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
empilés
6 ch
épiler

Why the eye confuses empilés with épiler

A purely visual mix-up. empilés (\ɑ̃.pi.le\) and épiler (\e.pi.le\) 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 78388, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

empilés is recorded at frequency rank #46,138, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pi.le\. épiler is at rank #32,250, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.pi.le\.

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 78388, this pair ranks #25,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of empilés vs épiler

Shared letters: eilpé. Private to "empilés": ms. Private to "épiler": r.

"empilés" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "épiler" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "empilés" and "épiler" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.pi.le\ versus \e.pi.le\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "empilés" vs "épiler" - which ranks higher?
"épiler" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,250 in our French list, against #46,138 for "empilés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "empilés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épiler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,878 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "empilés" and "épiler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "édiles vs empilés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #25,878 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