Which to use
“épris” is an adjective and “esprits” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,088
- “épris” frequency rank
- #3,755
- “esprits” frequency rank
- 27843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épris | esprits |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est saisi par un vif sentiment de relation affective, une passion pour quelqu'un ou quelque chose. | Pluriel de esprit. |
Where the eye mixes épris and esprits
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. épris runs 5 letters (VCCVC) against esprits's 7 (VCCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: épris vs esprits
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épris is \e.pʁi\ while esprits is \ɛs.pʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épris is recorded at frequency rank #24,088, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pʁi\. esprits is at rank #3,755, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pʁi\.
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 27843, this pair ranks #326,446 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of épris vs esprits
Shared letters: iprs. Private to "épris": é. Private to "esprits": et.
"épris" · 5 letters · shape VCCVC · "esprits" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- esprits ← epsrits · espirts · espprits · esprist · espritss · espritts · esprrits · esprtis
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "épris" and "esprits" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "épris" or "esprits" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "épris" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esprits" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #326,446 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épris" and "esprits" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épris vs éprise". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #326,446 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.