Which to use
“empoisonne” and “emprisonner” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #33,670
- “empoisonne” frequency rank
- #25,641
- “emprisonner” frequency rank
- 59311
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | empoisonne | emprisonner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de empoisonner. | Mettre en prison. |
Where the eye mixes empoisonne and emprisonner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. empoisonne runs 10 letters (VCCVVCVCCV) against emprisonner's 11 (VCCCVCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses empoisonne with emprisonner
A purely visual mix-up. empoisonne (\ɑ̃.pwa.zɔn\) and emprisonner (\ɑ̃.pʁi.zɔ.ne\) 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 59311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
empoisonne is recorded at frequency rank #33,670, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pwa.zɔn\. emprisonner is at rank #25,641, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.pʁi.zɔ.ne\.
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 59311, this pair ranks #103,875 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of empoisonne vs emprisonner
Shared letters: eimnops. Private to "empoisonne": -. Private to "emprisonner": r.
"empoisonne" · 10 letters · shape VCCVVCVCCV · "emprisonner" · 11 letters · shape VCCCVCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- empoisonne ← emmpoisonne · emopisonne · empiosonne · empoiosnne · empoisnone · empoisone · empoisonen · empoissonne
- emprisonner ← emmprisonner · empirsonner · empprisonner · empriosnner · emprisnoner · emprisonenr · emprisoner · emprisonnerr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "empoisonne" for "emprisonner" ever safe?
Which is more common, "empoisonne" or "emprisonner"?
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 "empoisonne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "emprisonner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #103,875 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "empoisonne" and "emprisonner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "empoisonne vs emprisonne". 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 #103,875 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.