épicéevsépiqueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,088
“épicée” frequency rank
#12,289
“épique” frequency rank
52377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épicée épique
Definition Féminin singulier de épicé. Qui raconte une épopée.

Where the eye mixes épicée and épique

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. épicée and épique follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
épicée
6 ch
épique

Why the eye confuses épicée with épique

A purely visual mix-up. épicée (\e.pi.se\) and épique (\e.pik\) 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 52377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épicée is recorded at frequency rank #40,088, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pi.se\. épique is at rank #12,289, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.pik\.

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 52377, this pair ranks #148,146 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épicée vs épique

Shared letters: eipé. Private to "épicée": c. Private to "épique": qu.

"épicée" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV  ·  "épique" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "épicée" for "épique" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\e.pi.se\ versus \e.pik\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "épicée" or "épique"?
"épique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,289 in our French list, against #40,088 for "épicée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "épicée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épique" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #148,146 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épicée" and "épique" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épicée vs épier". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #148,146 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list