imprécisvsimpréciseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#33,302
“imprécis” frequency rank
#43,986
“imprécise” frequency rank
77288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature imprécis imprécise
Definition Qui n’est pas précis ou qui n’est pas précisé. Féminin singulier de imprécis.

Where the eye mixes imprécis and imprécise

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. imprécis runs 8 letters (VCCCVCVC) against imprécise's 9 (VCCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
imprécis
9 ch
imprécise

Visual trap between imprécis and imprécise

A purely visual mix-up. imprécis (\ɛ̃.pʁe.si\) and imprécise (\ɛ̃.pʁe.siz\) 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 extra letter(s) - “imprécis” sits inside “imprécise”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77288, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

imprécis is recorded at frequency rank #33,302, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁe.si\. imprécise is at rank #43,986, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁe.siz\.

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 77288, this pair ranks #28,817 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of imprécis vs imprécise

Shared letters: cimprsé. Private to "imprécis": -. Private to "imprécise": e.

"imprécis" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVC  ·  "imprécise" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "imprécis" and "imprécise" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\ɛ̃.pʁe.si\ versus \ɛ̃.pʁe.siz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "imprécis" or "imprécise"?
"imprécis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,302 in our French list, against #43,986 for "imprécise". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "imprécis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "imprécise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #28,817 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "imprécis" and "imprécise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imprécise vs improvise". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #28,817 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