Which to use
“exigence” and “existence” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,849
- “exigence” frequency rank
- #1,564
- “existence” frequency rank
- 10413
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exigence | existence |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce que l’on attend, ce que l’on exige de quelqu’un. | Fait d’être, état de ce qui existe ; par exemple le fait d’être d’une manière absolue, ou pour la perception, ou encore pour la conscience. |
Where the eye mixes exigence and existence
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. exigence runs 8 letters (VCVCVCCV) against existence's 9 (VCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses exigence with existence
A purely visual mix-up. exigence (\ɛɡ.zi.ʒɑ̃s\) and existence (\ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10413, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exigence is recorded at frequency rank #8,849, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zi.ʒɑ̃s\. existence is at rank #1,564, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zis.tɑ̃s\.
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 10413, this pair ranks #413,093 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of exigence vs existence
Shared letters: ceinx. Private to "exigence": g. Private to "existence": st.
"exigence" · 8 letters · shape VCVCVCCV · "existence" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "exigence" and "existence" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "exigence" or "existence"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "exigence" and "existence" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "exigence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "existence" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #413,093 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exigence" and "existence" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "evidence vs exigence". 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 #413,093 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.