Which to use
“refute” is a verb and “résumé” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #24,295
- “refute” frequency rank
- #35,924
- “résumé” frequency rank
- 60219
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | refute | résumé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To prove (something) to be false or incorrect. | Alternative spelling of resume (“a summary, especially of employment history”). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set refute and résumé apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: refute is /ɹɪˈfjuːt/ while résumé is /ˈɹɛz.(j)ʊˌmeɪ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 60219, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
refute is recorded at frequency rank #24,295, classified as averb, pronounced /ɹɪˈfjuːt/. résumé is at rank #35,924, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɛz.(j)ʊˌmeɪ/.
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 60219, this pair ranks #101,545 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of refute vs résumé
Shared letters: ru. Private to "refute": eft. Private to "résumé": msé.
"refute" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "résumé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- refute ← erfute · reffute · reftue · refuet · refutte · reufte · rfeute · rrefute
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "refute" and "résumé" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "refute" or "résumé"?
Remembering refute vs résumé
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “refute”; for a noun, it's “résumé”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “refute” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable