Which to use
“imprévu” and “imprévue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,318
- “imprévu” frequency rank
- #32,442
- “imprévue” frequency rank
- 51760
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | imprévu | imprévue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qu’on n’avait pas prévu ; qui n'est pas conforme à des prévisions ou à un plan. | Féminin singulier de imprévu. |
Same sound, different letters: imprévu vs imprévue
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. imprévu runs 7 letters (VCCCVCV) against imprévue's 8 (VCCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: imprévu vs imprévue
This is the hard kind. imprévu and imprévue are pronounced identically (\ɛ̃.pʁe.vy\) and both work as anadjective. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “imprévu” sits inside “imprévue”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51760, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
imprévu is recorded at frequency rank #19,318, classified as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁe.vy\. imprévue is at rank #32,442, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛ̃.pʁe.vy\.
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 51760, this pair ranks #152,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of imprévu vs imprévue
Shared letters: impruvé. Private to "imprévu": -. Private to "imprévue": e.
"imprévu" · 7 letters · shape VCCCVCV · "imprévue" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "imprévu" and "imprévue" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "imprévu" vs "imprévue" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "imprévu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "imprévue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #152,662 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "imprévu" and "imprévue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "imprévue vs imprévues". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #152,662 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.