Which to use
“pieux” and “piteux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,229
- “pieux” frequency rank
- #35,642
- “piteux” frequency rank
- 48871
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pieux | piteux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a de la piété ; qui est attaché aux croyances, aux devoirs et aux pratiques de la religion. | Qui est digne de pitié, de compassion ; qui est propre à exciter la pitié, la compassion. |
Where the eye mixes pieux and piteux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pieux vs piteux
A purely visual mix-up. pieux (\pjø\) and piteux (\pi.tø\) 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 48871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pieux is recorded at frequency rank #13,229, classified as anadj, pronounced \pjø\. piteux is at rank #35,642, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pi.tø\.
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 48871, this pair ranks #175,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pieux vs piteux
Shared letters: eipux. Private to "pieux": -. Private to "piteux": t.
"pieux" · 5 letters · shape CVVVC · "piteux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pieux" for "piteux" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pieux" vs "piteux" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pieux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "piteux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #175,374 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pieux" and "piteux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "piteux vs poreux". 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 #175,374 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.