Which to use
“épuisé” is an adjective and “étuis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,259
- “épuisé” frequency rank
- #47,703
- “étuis” frequency rank
- 56962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épuisé | étuis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (En parlant d’un gisement, d’une source) Qui ne contient plus de produit exploitable. | Pluriel de étui. |
Where the eye mixes épuisé and étuis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. épuisé runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against étuis's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between épuisé and étuis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épuisé is \e.pɥi.ze\ while étuis is \e.tɥi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 56962, 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\. étuis is at rank #47,703, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɥi\.
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 56962, this pair ranks #117,881 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of épuisé vs étuis
Shared letters: isué. Private to "épuisé": p. Private to "étuis": t.
"épuisé" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "étuis" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "épuisé" and "étuis" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "épuisé" vs "étuis" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "épuisé" and "étuis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "épuisé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étuis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #117,881 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épuisé" and "étuis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étai vs étuis". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #117,881 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.