Which to use
“épater” and “éviter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,616
- “épater” frequency rank
- #862
- “éviter” frequency rank
- 39478
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épater | éviter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Priver de l’usage d’une patte. | Échapper, se soustraire à quelque chose de nuisible, de désagréable. |
Where the eye mixes épater and éviter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. épater and éviter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: épater vs éviter
A purely visual mix-up. épater (\e.pa.te\) and éviter (\e.vi.te\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épater is recorded at frequency rank #38,616, classified as averb, pronounced \e.pa.te\. éviter is at rank #862, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.vi.te\.
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 39478, this pair ranks #247,660 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of épater vs éviter
Shared letters: erté. Private to "épater": ap. Private to "éviter": iv.
"épater" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "éviter" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épater" for "éviter" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "épater" or "éviter" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "épater" and "éviter" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "épater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "éviter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #247,660 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épater" and "éviter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épater vs épier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #247,660 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.