Which to use
“exiger” and “expirer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,824
- “exiger” frequency rank
- #40,261
- “expirer” frequency rank
- 48085
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | exiger | expirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Demander quelque chose en vertu d’un droit légitime ou prétendu tel. | Rendre le dernier soupir. |
Where the eye mixes exiger and expirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. exiger runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against expirer's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses exiger with expirer
A purely visual mix-up. exiger (\eɡ.zi.ʒe\) and expirer (\ɛks.pi.ʁe\) 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 48085, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
exiger is recorded at frequency rank #7,824, classified as averb, pronounced \eɡ.zi.ʒe\. expirer is at rank #40,261, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛks.pi.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 48085, this pair ranks #181,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of exiger vs expirer
Shared letters: eirx. Private to "exiger": g. Private to "expirer": p.
"exiger" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "expirer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "exiger" for "expirer" ever safe?
Which is more common, "exiger" or "expirer"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "exiger" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "expirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #181,786 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "exiger" and "expirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs expirer". 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 #181,786 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.