Which to use
“pièce” and “pincée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #852
- “pièce” frequency rank
- #29,080
- “pincée” frequency rank
- 29932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pièce | pincée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacun des éléments d’un ensemble défini. → voir pièce détachée, de toutes pièces, juger sur pièces, pièce à pièce et pièce par pièce | Ce qu’on peut prendre de certaines choses, en les pinçant entre deux ou trois doigts. |
Where the eye mixes pièce and pincée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pièce runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against pincée's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: pièce vs pincée
A purely visual mix-up. pièce (\pjɛs\) and pincée (\pɛ̃.se\) 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 29932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pièce is recorded at frequency rank #852, classified as anoun, pronounced \pjɛs\. pincée is at rank #29,080, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛ̃.se\.
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 29932, this pair ranks #313,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pièce vs pincée
Shared letters: ceip. Private to "pièce": è. Private to "pincée": né.
"pièce" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "pincée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pièce" and "pincée" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pièce" or "pincée"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pièce" and "pincée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pièce" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pincée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,569 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pièce" and "pincée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pillée vs pincée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #313,569 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.