Which to use
“empirer” and “étirer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,191
- “empirer” frequency rank
- #28,030
- “étirer” frequency rank
- 46221
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empirer | étirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Rendre pire, faire devenir de pire qualité, de pire condition, mettre en pire état. | Étendre, allonger. |
Where the eye mixes empirer and étirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. empirer runs 7 letters (VCCVCVC) against étirer's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses empirer with étirer
A purely visual mix-up. empirer (\ɑ̃.pi.ʁe\) and étirer (\e.ti.ʁe\) 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 46221, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empirer is recorded at frequency rank #18,191, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pi.ʁe\. étirer is at rank #28,030, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ti.ʁe\.
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 46221, this pair ranks #196,646 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of empirer vs étirer
Shared letters: eir. Private to "empirer": mp. Private to "étirer": té.
"empirer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "étirer" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- empirer ← emiprer · emmpirer · empierr · empirerr · empirrer · emppirer · emprier · epmirer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empirer" for "étirer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "empirer" or "étirer"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "empirer" and "étirer" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "empirer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #196,646 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empirer" and "étirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs étirer". 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 #196,646 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.