Which to use
“pics” and “pieds” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,441
- “pics” frequency rank
- #1,006
- “pieds” frequency rank
- 13447
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pics | pieds |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pic. | Pluriel de pied. |
Where the eye mixes pics and pieds
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pics runs 4 letters (CVCC) against pieds's 5 (CVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pics with pieds
A purely visual mix-up. pics (\pik\) and pieds (\pje\) 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 13447, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pics is recorded at frequency rank #12,441, classified as anoun, pronounced \pik\. pieds is at rank #1,006, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pje\.
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 13447, this pair ranks #401,006 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pics vs pieds
Shared letters: ips. Private to "pics": c. Private to "pieds": de.
"pics" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pieds" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pics" for "pieds" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pics" or "pieds"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pics" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pieds" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,006 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pics" and "pieds" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pics vs pio". 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 #401,006 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.