Which to use
“épiler” and “étirer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,250
- “épiler” frequency rank
- #28,030
- “étirer” frequency rank
- 60280
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épiler | étirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dégarnir des poils, des cheveux. | Étendre, allonger. |
Where the eye mixes épiler and étirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: épiler vs étirer
A purely visual mix-up. épiler (\e.pi.le\) and étirer (\e.ti.ʁe\) 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 60280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épiler is recorded at frequency rank #32,250, classified as averb, pronounced \e.pi.le\. étirer is at rank #28,030, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ti.ʁe\.
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 60280, this pair ranks #98,482 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of épiler vs étirer
Shared letters: eiré. Private to "épiler": lp. Private to "étirer": t.
"épiler" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "étirer" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épiler" for "étirer" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "épiler" or "étirer" 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 "épiler" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #98,482 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épiler" and "étirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs épiler". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #98,482 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.