Which to use
“épuisé” and “épuisée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,259
- “épuisé” frequency rank
- #15,070
- “épuisée” frequency rank
- 24329
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épuisé | épuisée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (En parlant d’un gisement, d’une source) Qui ne contient plus de produit exploitable. | Féminin singulier de épuisé. |
Same sound, different letters: épuisé vs épuisée
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. épuisé runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against épuisée's 7 (VCVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - épuisé / épuisée
This is the hard kind. épuisé and épuisée are pronounced identically (\e.pɥi.ze\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “épuisé” sits inside “épuisée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épuisé is recorded at frequency rank #9,259, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pɥi.ze\. épuisée is at rank #15,070, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.pɥi.ze\.
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 24329, this pair ranks #347,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épuisé vs épuisée
Shared letters: ipsué. Private to "épuisé": -. Private to "épuisée": e.
"épuisé" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "épuisée" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épuisé" for "épuisée" ever safe?
Which is more common, "épuisé" or "épuisée"?
Useful next steps
You've separated the homophone pair "épuisé" / "épuisée". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "épuisé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "épuisée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #347,224 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épuisé" and "épuisée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éprise vs épuisée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #347,224 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.