Which to use
“pègre” and “pepe” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,988
- “pègre” frequency rank
- #20,231
- “pepe” frequency rank
- 62219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pègre | pepe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Catégorie des gens sans aveu qui vivent de friponnerie ou d’escroquerie. | Poivrier noir. |
Where the eye mixes pègre and pepe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pègre runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against pepe's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pègre with pepe
A purely visual mix-up. pègre (\pɛɡʁ\) and pepe (\ˈpe.pe\) 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 62219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pègre is recorded at frequency rank #41,988, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛɡʁ\. pepe is at rank #20,231, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈpe.pe\.
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 62219, this pair ranks #88,264 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pègre vs pepe
Shared letters: ep. Private to "pègre": grè. Private to "pepe": -.
"pègre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "pepe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pepe ← eppe · peppe · ppee · ppepe
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pègre" for "pepe" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pègre" or "pepe"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pègre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pepe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,264 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pègre" and "pepe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pègre vs Perl". 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 #88,264 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.