Which to use
“poème” and “poésie” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,278
- “poème” frequency rank
- #3,160
- “poésie” frequency rank
- 8438
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poème | poésie |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ouvrage de littérature en vers. | (Traditionnellement) Art de faire des ouvrages en vers. |
Where the eye mixes poème and poésie
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. poème runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against poésie's 6 (CVVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: poème vs poésie
A purely visual mix-up. poème (\pɔ.ɛm\) and poésie (\pɔ.e.zi\) 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 8438, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poème is recorded at frequency rank #5,278, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.ɛm\. poésie is at rank #3,160, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.e.zi\.
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 8438, this pair ranks #420,027 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of poème vs poésie
Shared letters: eop. Private to "poème": mè. Private to "poésie": isé.
"poème" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "poésie" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poème" and "poésie" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "poème" or "poésie"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "poème" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poésie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #420,027 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poème" and "poésie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poème vs Popeye". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #420,027 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.