épuiséevsépuréeWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#15,070
“épuisée” frequency rank
#39,609
“épurée” frequency rank
54679
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épuisée épurée
Definition Féminin singulier de épuisé. Asphalte de l’île de la Trinité, une fois quelle est purifiée.

Where the eye mixes épuisée and épurée

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. épuisée runs 7 letters (VCVVCVV) against épurée's 6 (VCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
épuisée
6 ch
épurée

Look-alike desk: épuisée vs épurée

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épuisée is \e.pɥi.ze\ while épurée is \e.py.ʁe\. 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 54679, 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\. épurée is at rank #39,609, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.py.ʁe\.

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 54679, this pair ranks #132,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épuisée vs épurée

Shared letters: epué. Private to "épuisée": is. Private to "épurée": r.

"épuisée" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVV  ·  "épurée" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "épuisée" for "épurée" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épuisée" is an adjective and "épurée" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "épuisée" or "épurée"?
"épuisée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,070 in our French list, against #39,609 for "épurée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "épuisée" and "épurée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "épuisée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épurée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #132,402 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épuisée" and "épurée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épurée vs espérée". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #132,402 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