impeccablevsimpensableWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“impeccable” and “impensable” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,187
“impeccable” frequency rank
#17,452
“impensable” frequency rank
30639
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature impeccable impensable
Definition Qui est incapable de pécher. Qui ne peut pas être compris par la pensée.

Where the eye mixes impeccable and impensable

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.

10 ch
impeccable
10 ch
impensable

Look-alike desk: impeccable vs impensable

A purely visual mix-up. impeccable (\ɛ̃.pɛ.kabl\) and impensable (\ɛ̃.pɑ̃.sabl\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30639, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

impeccable is recorded at frequency rank #13,187, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pɛ.kabl\. impensable is at rank #17,452, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pɑ̃.sabl\.

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 30639, this pair ranks #308,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of impeccable vs impensable

Shared letters: abeilmp. Private to "impeccable": c. Private to "impensable": ns.

"impeccable" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV  ·  "impensable" · 10 letters · shape VCCVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • impeccableimepccable · immpeccable · impcecable · impecable · impecacble · impeccabble · impeccabel · impeccablle
  • impensableimepnsable · immpensable · impenasble · impennsable · impensabble · impensabel · impensablle · impensalbe

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "impeccable" and "impensable" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.pɛ.kabl\ versus \ɛ̃.pɑ̃.sabl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "impeccable" or "impensable"?
"impeccable" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,187 in our French list, against #17,452 for "impensable". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "impeccable" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "impensable" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #308,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "impeccable" and "impensable" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "impeccable vs impeccables". 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 #308,933 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