Which to use
“épingle” and “épingles” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,831
- “épingle” frequency rank
- #28,805
- “épingles” frequency rank
- 43636
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épingle | épingles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Petite tige de métal (laiton, cuivre, fer, acier, etc.) terminée par une pointe à un bout et, de l’autre, par une tête → voir tête d’épingle. | Pluriel de épingle. |
Same sound, different letters: épingle vs épingles
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. épingle runs 7 letters (VCVCCCV) against épingles's 8 (VCVCCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Ear matches; page differs - épingle and épingles
This is the hard kind. épingle and épingles are pronounced identically (\e.pɛ̃ɡl\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “épingle” sits inside “épingles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43636, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épingle is recorded at frequency rank #14,831, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pɛ̃ɡl\. épingles is at rank #28,805, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pɛ̃ɡl\.
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 43636, this pair ranks #216,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of épingle vs épingles
Shared letters: egilnpé. Private to "épingle": -. Private to "épingles": s.
"épingle" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCV · "épingles" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "épingle" and "épingles" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "épingle" or "épingles" show up more?
What to do next
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "épingle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "épingles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #216,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épingle" and "épingles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épingler vs épingles". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #216,545 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.