résumévsrevueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“résumé” and “revue” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,924
“résumé” frequency rank
#26,575
“revue” frequency rank
62499
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature résumé revue
Definition Alternative spelling of resume (“a summary, especially of employment history”). A form of theatrical entertainment in which recent events, popular fads, etc., are parodied.

Where the eye mixes résumé and revue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. résumé runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against revue's 5 (CVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
résumé
5 ch
revue

Why the eye confuses résumé with revue

A purely visual mix-up. résumé (/ˈɹɛz.(j)ʊˌmeɪ/) and revue (/ɹəˈvjuː/) 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 62499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

résumé is recorded at frequency rank #35,924, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɹɛz.(j)ʊˌmeɪ/. revue is at rank #26,575, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɹəˈvjuː/.

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 62499, this pair ranks #88,160 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of résumé vs revue

Shared letters: ru. Private to "résumé": msé. Private to "revue": ev.

"résumé" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "revue" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • revue ← ervue · reuve · reveu · revvue · rrevue · rveue

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "résumé" for "revue" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɹɛz.(j)ʊˌmeɪ/ versus /ɹəˈvjuː/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "résumé" or "revue"?
"revue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,575 in our English list, against #35,924 for "résumé". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "résumé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "revue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #88,160 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "résumé" and "revue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "repute vs résumé". 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 #88,160 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list