épopéesvsépousesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,284
“épopées” frequency rank
#14,832
“épouses” frequency rank
63116
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épopées épouses
Definition Pluriel de épopée. Pluriel de épouse.

Where the eye mixes épopées and épouses

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. épopées (VCVCVVC) and épouses (VCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
épopées
7 ch
épouses

Look-alike desk: épopées vs épouses

A purely visual mix-up. épopées (\e.pɔ.pe\) and épouses (\e.puz\) 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 63116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épopées is recorded at frequency rank #48,284, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pɔ.pe\. épouses is at rank #14,832, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.puz\.

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 63116, this pair ranks #83,667 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of épopées vs épouses

Shared letters: eopsé. Private to "épopées": -. Private to "épouses": u.

"épopées" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC  ·  "épouses" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "épopées" and "épouses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.pɔ.pe\ versus \e.puz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "épopées" or "épouses"?
"épouses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,832 in our French list, against #48,284 for "épopées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "épopées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épouses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #83,667 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épopées" and "épouses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éponges vs épopées". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #83,667 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