PillevspiqueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Pille” and “pique” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#39,457
“Pille” frequency rank
#5,061
“pique” frequency rank
44518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pille pique
Definition Pilule, forme pharmaceutique en forme de petite boule. Sorte d’arme formée d’un long bois dont le bout est garni d’un fer plat et pointu.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pille and pique apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Pille
5 ch
pique

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Pille (\ˈpɪlə\) and pique (\pik\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pille is recorded at frequency rank #39,457, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈpɪlə\. pique is at rank #5,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pik\.

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 44518, this pair ranks #209,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pille vs pique

Shared letters: eip. Private to "Pille": l. Private to "pique": qu.

"Pille" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pique" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pilleiplle · pilel · plile · ppille
  • piqueipque · piqeu · piqque · piuqe · ppique · pqiue

Frequency comparison

Pille#39,457
pique#5,061

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pille" and "pique" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ˈpɪlə\ versus \pik\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pille" or "pique"?
"pique" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,061 in our French list, against #39,457 for "Pille". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Pille vs pique

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Pille” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list