Which to use
“épées” and “épopées” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,628
- “épées” frequency rank
- #48,284
- “épopées” frequency rank
- 66912
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épées | épopées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épée. | Pluriel de épopée. |
Where the eye mixes épées and épopées
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. épées runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against épopées's 7 (VCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between épées and épopées
A purely visual mix-up. épées (\e.pe\) and épopées (\e.pɔ.pe\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66912, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épées is recorded at frequency rank #18,628, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pe\. épopées is at rank #48,284, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pɔ.pe\.
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 66912, this pair ranks #65,742 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of épées vs épopées
Shared letters: epsé. Private to "épées": -. Private to "épopées": o.
"épées" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "épopées" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épées" for "épopées" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "épées" or "épopées" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "épées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "épopées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,742 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épées" and "épopées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éponges vs épopées". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #65,742 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.