refugiavsrepugnaTell them apart

Which to use

“refugia” and “repugna” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#41,593
“refugia” frequency rank
#38,351
“repugna” frequency rank
79944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature refugia repugna
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de refugiar o de refugiarse. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de repugnar.

Where the eye mixes refugia and repugna

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
refugia
7 ch
repugna

Visual trap between refugia and repugna

A purely visual mix-up. refugia ([reˈfuxja]) and repugna ([reˈpuɣ̞na]) 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 79944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

refugia is recorded at frequency rank #41,593, classified as averb, pronounced [reˈfuxja]. repugna is at rank #38,351, tagged as averb, pronounced [reˈpuɣ̞na].

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 79944, this pair ranks #12,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of refugia vs repugna

Shared letters: aegru. Private to "refugia": fi. Private to "repugna": np.

"refugia" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV  ·  "repugna" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • refugiaerfugia · reffugia · refguia · refugai · refuggia · refuiga · reufgia · rfeugia
  • repugnaerpugna · repguna · reppugna · repugan · repuggna · repugnna · repunga · reupgna

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "refugia" for "repugna" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([reˈfuxja] versus [reˈpuɣ̞na]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "refugia" vs "repugna" - which ranks higher?
"repugna" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #38,351 in our Spanish list, against #41,593 for "refugia". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "refugia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "repugna" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "refugia" and "repugna" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "refugia vs refugian". 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 #12,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list