épuiséevsépuiserTell them apart

Quick tell: épuisée is a adjective, épuiser is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“épuisée” is an adjective and “épuiser” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#15,070
“épuisée” frequency rank
#24,455
“épuiser” frequency rank
39525
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épuisée épuiser
Definition Féminin singulier de épuisé. Mettre à sec en puisant, tarir.

Same sound, different letters: épuisée vs épuiser

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. épuisée (VCVVCVV) and épuiser (VCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
épuisée
7 ch
épuiser

Ear matches; page differs - épuisée and épuiser

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: épuisée and épuiser carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.pɥi.ze\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épuisée is recorded at frequency rank #15,070, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pɥi.ze\. épuiser is at rank #24,455, tagged as averb, 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 39525, this pair ranks #247,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épuisée vs épuiser

Shared letters: eipsué. Private to "épuisée": -. Private to "épuiser": r.

"épuisée" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVV  ·  "épuiser" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "épuisée" for "épuiser" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épuisée" is an adjective and "épuiser" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "épuisée" or "épuiser" show up more?
"épuisée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,070 in our French list, against #24,455 for "épuiser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "épuisée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épuiser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #247,307 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épuisée" and "épuiser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs épuiser". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #247,307 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