estimevsestiméesWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: estime is a noun, estimées is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“estime” is a noun and “estimées” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,952
“estime” frequency rank
#22,851
“estimées” frequency rank
24803
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature estime estimées
Definition Opinion favorable que l’on a de quelqu’un, fondée sur la connaissance de son mérite, de ses bonnes qualités, de ses vertus. Participe passé féminin pluriel de estimer.

Where the eye mixes estime and estimées

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. estime runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against estimées's 8 (VCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
estime
8 ch
estimées

Visual trap between estime and estimées

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: estime is \ɛs.tim\ while estimées is \ɛs.ti.me\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

estime is recorded at frequency rank #1,952, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.tim\. estimées is at rank #22,851, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛs.ti.me\.

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 24803, this pair ranks #344,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of estime vs estimées

Shared letters: eimst. Private to "estime": -. Private to "estimées": é.

"estime" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "estimées" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • estime ← esitme · esstime · estiem · estimme · estmie · esttime · etsime · setime

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "estime" for "estimées" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "estime" is a noun and "estimées" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "estime" or "estimées"?
"estime" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,952 in our French list, against #22,851 for "estimées". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "estime" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "estimées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #344,527 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "estime" and "estimées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entamées vs estimées". 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 #344,527 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