Which to use
“imite” is a verb and “impie” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,506
- “imite” frequency rank
- #30,212
- “impie” frequency rank
- 48718
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imite | impie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de imiter. | Incroyant, blasphématoire, qui a du mépris pour les choses de la religion. |
Where the eye mixes imite and impie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. imite (VCVCV) and impie (VCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses imite with impie
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: imite is \i.mit\ while impie is \ɛ̃.pi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imite is recorded at frequency rank #18,506, classified as averb, pronounced \i.mit\. impie is at rank #30,212, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pi\.
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 48718, this pair ranks #176,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of imite vs impie
Shared letters: eim. Private to "imite": t. Private to "impie": p.
"imite" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "impie" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "imite" for "impie" ever safe?
Frequency check: "imite" vs "impie" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "imite" and "impie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "imite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "impie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #176,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imite" and "impie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ime vs impie". 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 #176,583 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.