encaissévsépaisseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#21,000
“encaissé” frequency rank
#10,107
“épaisse” frequency rank
31107
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature encaissé épaisse
Definition Se dit d’un fleuve, d’une rivière dont les bords sont escarpés et nettement plus élevés que la surface de l’eau, ou d’un chemin dont les bords sont nettement plus élevés que le niveau du cheminement. Féminin singulier de épais.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set encaissé and épaisse apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
encaissé
7 ch
épaisse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. encaissé (\ɑ̃.kɛ.se\) and épaisse (\e.pɛs\) 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 31107, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

encaissé is recorded at frequency rank #21,000, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɑ̃.kɛ.se\. épaisse is at rank #10,107, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.pɛs\.

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 31107, this pair ranks #305,929 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of encaissé vs épaisse

Shared letters: aeisé. Private to "encaissé": cn. Private to "épaisse": p.

"encaissé" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCCV  ·  "épaisse" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCCV

Frequency comparison

encaissé#21,000
épaisse#10,107

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "encaissé" and "épaisse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ɑ̃.kɛ.se\ versus \e.pɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "encaissé" or "épaisse"?
"épaisse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,107 in our French list, against #21,000 for "encaissé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering encaissé vs épaisse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “encaissé” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list