Which to use
“refused” is a verb and “reuse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,806
- “refused” frequency rank
- #17,938
- “reuse” frequency rank
- 20744
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refused | reuse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of refuse | The act of salvaging or in some manner restoring a discarded item to yield something usable. |
Where the eye mixes refused and reuse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: refused vs reuse
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: refused is /ɹɪˈfjuːzd/ while reuse is /ɹiːˈjuːs/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20744, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refused is recorded at frequency rank #2,806, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈfjuːzd/. reuse is at rank #17,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹiːˈjuːs/.
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 20744, this pair ranks #428,978 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of refused vs reuse
Shared letters: ersu. Private to "refused": df. Private to "reuse": -.
"refused" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "reuse" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "refused" for "reuse" ever safe?
Frequency check: "refused" vs "reuse" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "refused" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "reuse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #428,978 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "refused" and "reuse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Renée vs reuse". 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 #428,978 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.